65. Suspect by Robert Crais

Scott James & Maggie #1 (they will reappear with Joe Pike & Elvis Cole)
listened to CD while driving (around Tucson and on Lake Havasu/Flagstaff trip)
performed by Macleod Andrews
2013, G. P. Putnam's Sons
312 pgs
7 unabridged cds (8:34)
Adult mystery
Finished  11/14/16
Goodreads rating: 4.14 - 15,709 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary LA

First line/s:  "Maggie's tail thumped the dirt hard.  This was a game they played often, so Maggie knew what was coming, and lived for the joy of this moment."

My comments:  I was looking for a good mystery from an author I know and trust for my car trip.  I know and trust Robert Crais - I love both Elvis Cole and Joe Pike.  This was a "standalone" about a young LA police officer and his dog.  I almost didn't take it.  I'm not a so-called animal lover (I can't say I even particularly like dogs), and I usually run... fast and far... from literature that gives an animal a major role.  But since Robert Crais is tried and true for me, I decided to go for it.
      This is a long introduction to a short review.  From the very first words I was hooked.  The narration was beautifully done, I liked the two protagonists, the plot, the pacing, and all the twists and turns.  The best part?  Getting a little insight into why man and dog have always had such close bonds.  This is something I've never totally understood.  So I got a great mystery and a little insight. It looks like both Scott and Maggie will appear in a Elvis & Joe mystery, too.  Excellent, I look forward to seeing them again.

Goodreads synopsis:  LAPD cop Scott James is not doing so well. Eight months ago, a shocking nighttime assault by unidentified men killed his partner Stephanie, nearly killed him, and left him enraged, ashamed, and ready to explode. He is unfit for duty...until he meets his new partner.
          Maggie is not doing so well, either. A German shepherd who survived three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan sniffing explosives before losing her handler to an IED, her PTSD is as bad as Scott's.
           They are each other's last chance. Shunned and shunted to the side, they set out to investigate the one case that no one wants them to touch: the identity of the men who murdered Stephanie. What they begin to find is nothing like what Scott has been told, and the journey will take them both through the darkest moments of their own personal hells. Whether they will make it out again, no one can say.