This is the first entry in the Sydney Parnell mystery series. I’m a fan of mystery stories, but prefer that there be something that makes the character(s) or setting stand apart from the other umpty dozen mystery novels published at the same time. Blood on the Tracks has both! The main character is a railway detective, which made me think historical, but nope, this is a contemporary novel, set in the western part of the U.S., during winter. Our heroine is also a veteran, and she is dealing with lots of baggage from her former occupation. And there’s a dog.

The plot is reasonably suspenseful, the characters fairly well drawn, and the author kept me turning the pages, despite quite a few plot twists and turns. Fans of mystery novels, military fiction, and dogs should like Blood on the Tracks. I did.