I was ready for something interesting but not so gruesome, so I selected “A Nose for Mischief” by K.T. Lee. It is the first of the Riverbend K-9s series featuring members of an elite FBI K-9 unit.
Special Agent Alexis Thompson has a lot on her plate. Her hard work and a bit of good fortune have put her in charge of a new K-9 training facility housed in a former municipal airport not far from Chicago.
Early reports show that the program is remarkably successful, but the budget still has little wiggle room. So, when a bad agent was ousted from the program, Alexis has a willing K-9 but no handler for her.
Not long ago, Alexis and her K-9 partner Waffle were part of an investigation at Future State Energy in Denver. The company claimed to have created powerful batteries for use in electric cars, but investors were claiming fraud. The FBI implemented a raid on the facility.
Alexis was charged with questioning testing engineer Zoey Butler. When Zoey was hired at Future State, she thought she’d found her dream job. Working on test data and spreadsheets made her day until she noticed that none of the batteries passed her tests.
She rewrote test protocols but got the same disappointing results. The batteries were not capable of doing what Future State claimed. With nothing to hide, Zoey fully cooperated with the FBI but truly knew nothing that would aid in their investigation.
Seeing no future with the company, and knowing her skills were valuable, Zoey quit with plans to find a new job in no time. Sadly, being associated with Future State made her almost unemployable.
Remembering her encounters with Alexis, Zoey boldly reaches out to the agent. She asserts that since the FBI had created her employment problem, they should be willing to give her a chance to improve her resume by hiring her. Amazed by the moxie, Alexis agrees to allow Zoey to work at the K-9 facility.
Packing light, Zoey heads for Riverbend. Within a day, Zoey has bonded with Waffle, met Liam Graham and his K-9 Tank and made a positive impression on most of the staff. Soon she’s been offered the opportunity to work with an energetic pup named Tasha, and the connection is immediate.
Zoey has just begun her training when she learns that someone broke into the apartment she’s shared with her sister. They ransacked Zoey’s room and roughed up her sister. After a bit of brainstorming, Alexis, Liam and Zoey conclude that the thieves were after a flash drive that one of the Future State employees had given Zoey and she’d forgotten about.
A quick scan shows it contains incriminating information. Because the new management team has been trying to rehire Zoey, she agrees to return to Future State and get Liam hired as well. They already know that someone in Future State has sabotaged manufacturing and testing, so Zoey doesn’t know who she can trust. Even the most innocent comment or activity could blow their cover.
As the pair carefully digs deeper into employee backgrounds and associations, they find a tiny thread connecting the new CEO with a questionable investor group. With the help of their K-9 companions, Zoey and Liam piece together a plot to defraud investors and put the blame on innocent employees.
The final showdown is low-key and fairly non-violent, with the heroics underscored by a heavy dose of romance. It might not have been high drama, but it was an interesting look at a little-known segment of the FBI and how it functions.
AT A GLANCE
Book: A Nose for Mischief (Riverbend K-9s, Book 1)
Author: K.T. Lee
Publisher: Vertical Line Publishing
Year published: 2021
Number of pages: 242
Series features elite FBI K-9 corps
