Trail Gone Dark: K-9 Search & Rescue Mysteries, Book 1

By: Lyon, Sophie

Three days in the mountains. No satellite signal. No sign of life.

When Gemma Hartley's pager sounds before dawn - MISSING PERSON, 72 HOURS OVERDUE - she and her legendary German Shepherd Kira are in the truck within twelve minutes. That's what they do. That's what they are. But what Gemma expects to be a routine search becomes something else entirely when Kira finds Alexis Mercer's body at the base of Devil's Ledge - and the evidence points not to accident, but to murder.

Fresh from Minneapolis and still carrying the grief of a SAR operation gone wrong, Gemma came to Elk Creek to disappear. Instead, she stumbles onto a thread that leads straight into the town's buried past. Brianna Hartley - same last name, no relation - walked into these same mountains twenty-five years ago and was never found. Her sister Vera has been waiting ever since. And Warren Haskell, the town's most respected citizen, keeps appearing in the margins of a story no one has wanted to tell.

With Deputy Marco Reyes working the criminal side and Kira working the air, Gemma is chasing two cases at once: the killer who took Alexis, and the truth about what happened to Brianna in 1998.

Some trails lead to answers. Others lead to graves.

Perfect for fans of Nevada Barr, Margaret Mizushima, and Margaret Coel. If you love atmospheric mystery, loyal K-9 partners, and small-town secrets that refuse to stay buried, Trail Gone Dark is the beginning of a series you won't be able to stop reading.

#1 Amazon Bestseller in Animal Fiction

Book 1 of 14 in the K-9 Search & Rescue Mysteries series. All 14 books now available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GFW5PKNW
• ISBN13: 9798243205252
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 370 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"