Review - The Serpents Trail

Title: The Serpents Trail
Author: Sue Henry
Publisher: Onyx, Pgs 288
Publication Date: March 1, 2005
Format: Audio
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library
Series: Maxie and Stretch #1

When I first picked up this book, I saw the name Sue Henry and immediately remember the Jessie Arnold series that I had started last year and thought that this was another in that series. Well, no, I was wrong; this is a series that involves Maxie and her dog, a mini-dachshund named Stretch, traveling in their trusty Winnebago.

When twice-widowed 63-year-old Maxie gets a call from an old friend living in Colorado, she decides that it is time to take a little trip. Sarah is her dearest college friend and since the diagnosis, Sarah realizes that she only has months to live and wants to see Maxie one last time.

Unfortunately, someone has seen to it that Maxie and Sarah do not have a chance for a last visit. Sarah has been murdered and true to her nature, has left hidden clues for Maxie as to her final wishes and secrets that have been kept hidden.

The storyline progresses incrementally revealing little bits and pieces until the reader gets the fuller picture of whom each character really is and the true character of the killer is revealed. What I enjoyed about this book is that the reader had to follow along and not be misled by outward caring of one character and the aloofness of another. Like many books in this genre, not everything is easily laid out and you do have to pay attention.

Of course, I will continue with this dynamic duo. Who could resist a feisty woman and her trusty dog companion traveling by themselves? Part travelogue, part mystery, this series should take the armchair reader to interesting and varied destinations.

About the Author Sue Henry

Sue Henry’s first Jessie Arnold mystery, Murder on the Iditarod Trail, won both the Anthony and Macavity Awards for Best First Novel. Since then the critically acclaimed series has extended to ten books. The Serpents Trail is the first in a new spinoff series starring Maxie McNabb (first met in Dead North), retiree and avid RVer. Henry is a former college administrator and has lived in Alaska for thirty years. When she’s not RVing the Alaska Highway, or around the Lower Forty-eight, she makes her home in Anchorage.