The Lost by Jeffrey B Burton

About the Book:

Glencoe, Illinois: A home invasion turned kidnapping at the mansion of billionaire financier Kenneth J. Druckman brings Mason “Mace” Reid and his cadaver dog, Vira, to this wealthy northern suburb of Chicago. Druckman was assaulted, left behind while his wife and young daughter were taken for ransom.

Brought to the scene by the FBI, Reid specializes in human remains detection, and Vira is the star of his pack of cadaver dogs he’s dubbed The Finders. After Vira finds the dead body of the mother, former supermodel Calley Kurtz, everyone is on high alert to find Druckman’s missing daughter before the five-year-old disappears forever. But the trail Vira finds on the property’s dense woodlands leads right back to Druckman himself.

With the help of Detective Kippy Gimm, Reid and Vira must race against the clock. Nothing is as it appears to be . . . and the red herrings could be lethal.

My Review:

This novel is the third in the cadaver dog series by Burton and the third I've read. I did not find this one as compelling as the earlier ones. Part of the reason was the plot concentrating more on a variety of characters rather than primarily the dogs. I appreciate the relationship between Mace and Kippy as they are major characters, but there were many other characters, including ones from the Russian mob. That diluted the emphasis on the cadaver dog.

Burton's writing style was varied. There were chapters about an unknown person that had a writing style I liked. The rest of the text was a bit different and almost had an oh gosh, country style of writing. Also, the narrative had flash backs I thought disrupted the flow of the plot.

The plot was as complex as the list of characters. It involved financial fraud, a very odd wealthy man, plenty of schemes and a valiant dog. The denouement clearly relates all the events after the fact.

While this is not the best book in the series, I did generally enjoy it and will be watching for the next one, hoping Burton returns to featuring the dogs.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

You can read my reviews of the earlier books in the series: The Finders and The Keepers. 

About the Author:

Jeffrey B Burton was born in Long Beach, California, grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, received hi BA in Journalism at the University of Minnesota. He has written three previous novels and his short stories have appeared in dozens of magazines. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and the Horror Writers Association. He lives in St. Paul with his wife, a Pomeranian and a Beagle. You can find out more at https://jeffreybburton.com/index.html Photo: Cindy Archer-Burton.

Minotaur Books, 288 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)