The first in a gripping new series by Paula Munier, A Borrowing of Bones is full of complex twists, introducing a wonderful new voice for mystery readers and dog lovers.Grief and guilt are the ghosts that haunt you when you survive what others do not….After their last deployment, when she got shot, her fiancé Martinez got killed and his bomb-sniffing dog Elvis got depressed, soldier Mercy Carr … depressed, soldier Mercy Carr and Elvis were both sent home, her late lover’s last words ringing in her ears: “Take care of my partner.”
Together the two former military police—one twenty-nine-year-old two-legged female with wounds deeper than skin and one handsome five-year-old four-legged Malinois with canine PTSD—march off their grief mile after mile in the beautiful remote Vermont wilderness.
Even on the Fourth of July weekend, when all of Northshire celebrates with fun and frolic and fireworks, it’s just another walk in the woods for Mercy and Elvis—until the dog alerts to explosives and they find a squalling baby abandoned near a shallow grave filled with what appear to be human bones.
U.S. Game Warden Troy Warner and his search and rescue Newfoundland Susie Bear respond to Mercy’s 911 call, and the four must work together to track down a missing mother, solve a cold-case murder, and keep the citizens of Northshire safe on potentially the most incendiary Independence Day since the American Revolution.
It’s a call to action Mercy and Elvis cannot ignore, no matter what the cost.
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Excellent. Can’t wait for the next one.
This was one of those books that I couldn’t put down. Loved the story, the characters seemed like real people and it just was a very easy read. Exactly what I look for in a book I’m reading for entertainment.
I enjoyed the development of the characters from beginning to end. As a dog lover I also enjoyed the part their dogs played in the story. And the twists in the plot kept me guessing from beginning to end.
Wellwrten, new characters. Hope to read more.
Mystery with interesting characters and a side of romance. And dogs.
Ci enjoyed this book very much. I called my sister to recommend the book to her. I’m looking forward to reading her next book
Liked it a lot and can understand what her and the dog were going through. My brother was in Vietnam and has PTSD and also they put down all service dogs accept for about 250. That is the shame our government must bare. But enough outcry made them pass a law protecting service dogs. It was a great book that will open peoples eyes. Thank you
This was the first book I have read from this author. I liked it and was driven to find time to keep reading it! I found the characters believable. I like learning more about states and colloquial traits of states that I have not lived in. It was a good book.
Fabulous characters! Especially the dogs. Can’t wait for the next in the series.
I need more time today, I want to finish it before bedtime but I need to finish chores. Great story, great characters.
The main characters are a grief stricken woman who is a combat veteran and a dog retired from combat who was trained for explosives detection. There’s also a little romance with a police officer. Great character development (including the dog, who was not originally assigned to the main character) and a believable plot. I’ll be looking for the next book in this series as soon as it’s available.
I liked that the woman and dog were both smart and used theirs brains accordingly. Usually books with dogs have dogs that aren’t that smart and it centers around a romance. This book is a good mystery, part thriller with development of her characters into complex, likable people. Her descriptions of the Vermont woods is beautiful, as well. It also discussed the PTSD that the dogs go through, as well as the soldiers, which is a very important aspect of what we put dogs in war through.
Very well written and great sense of place
This was a terrific read – once I started on it, I read thru the night, which I almost never do. I highly recommend this and I am looking forward to her next one.
It’s been a few months, so I am thinking back… but I like the idea of both the main characters and the mystery was different enough to keep me working on it for a while. I like dogs and mysteries, so this was a no-brainer for me to want to read it. And you can tell future books will get into the politics of smallish towns, and state patrol vs park rangers… should be interesting!
Suspenseful, engaging mystery set in the woods of Vermont, with the most fantastic dog I’ve ever encountered in fiction. This page-turning story kept me both wanting to figure out who-done-it but even more, how these characters would evolve and come together through solving the case. Realistic, with heart-warming characters and strong narrative voice.
A BORROWING OF BONES by Paula Munier is the first book in the Mercy & Elvis Mysteries series.
Mercy Carr, a 29 year old retired MP that served in Afghanistan, returns to her hometown of Northshire, Vermont with Elvis, a 5 year old Belgian Malinois retired bomb sniffing dog suffering with canine PTSD. Mercy although injured in battle is suffering more from the death of her fiancé, Martinez, who was critically injured. In his last words to Mercy, he asked her to take care of Elvis. It took a long battle and lots of funds, but she intends to fulfill her promise to him. Together they must work through their past, physically and emotionally, learn to work together as a team and to return to civilian way of life again.
Grandmother Patience Fleury O’Sullivan, a big animal veterinarian, also owns Sterling Animal Hospital named in honor of late husband Sheriff Sterling O’Sullivan. Being of Quaker back ground, she’s very proud of her name and named her children accordingly as they did theirs as in Mercy’s name. Mercy dearly loves her Grandmother and has more of a connection to her than her own Mother. Patience was a wonderful supporting character in the book and I hope to see more of her in the follow up books.
Although not an MP any longer, Mercy’s mind still works like a military cop. It lands her finding not one but several dead bodies. She finds evidence that has her thinking that they are all connected. Can she prove it? It’s with Elvis and Mercy’s first find, a set of bones with a few items like a belt buckle, in the woods that has her meeting U.S. Game Warden Troy Warner and his search and rescue Newfoundand, Susie Bear. They seem to have a connection from the start. He is the one that listens to her theories and helps her to explore them even if part of the time it is to try to keep her out of trouble or danger.
Along the way, she meets Amy Walker and baby Helena, who temporarily abandoned for Mercy to find. When they come up both missing, Mercy is desperate to find them, make sure they are safe and help the young mother as she can. Unfortunately, Amy’s step-father is one of those murdered making Amy a prime suspect by everyone but Mercy.
Mercy’s house got broken into. Upon returning home, she startled intruder who escaped shooting Elvis as he ran into woods. The incident triggers the PTSD for both Mercy and Elvis, but Troy and Susie Bear were there for them as was Patience who made sure Elvis had the best medical care.
There are all sorts of twists and turns, but the author weaves an amazing story that will have you on the edge of your seat, flipping pages pulling for the good guys and trying to figure out who the bad guys all are and what part they play. The author has done her research because this book is accurate and detailed while still very entertaining making the whole storyline 100% believable. Love the way she worked all of the Shakespeare quotes and details adding a wonderful depth to the story
I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves a well written, great mystery. After you read book one, you will be on the edge of your seating waiting for book #2. I, for one, can’t wait to see what other adventures Mercy and Elvis get into. I can’t wait to see how the attraction between Mercy and Troy develops. Is there a romance in the making for Patience too?
Loved this book. 2 dogs, one with PTSD type symptoms, are costarring in the book. Hope there will be follow ups
Excellent for a first book. Want to read more about all the characters but especially about Elvis and Susie, two great dogs. Their owners are a retired vet and a Forest Ranger. They are pretty great too.
I loved Paula’s fictional debut! The K-9 is fabulous and the characters were endearing and real. It was satisfying to read characters who actually smiled and enjoyed life a bit. Some intense books seem robotic because they lack the most human of all characteristics: a smile. The action was excellent and kept me up until 2AM a few nights. I always looked forward to getting back to the book. I am REALLY looking forward to the next!