Book review: ‘The Snow Lies Deep’
The Snow Lies Deep: A Mercy Carr Mystery by Paula Munier. Minotaur Books, 2025. Hardcover, 320 pages.
Two of my favorite dogs are on the trail of a murderer in The Snow Lies Deep, the seventh installment in Paula Munier’s always engaging Mercy Carr mystery series.
Former military shepherd Elvis and search-and-rescue dog Susie Bear — along with Mercy and her husband, Troy — become caught up in a series of Yuletide killings during their small Vermont town’s holiday celebrations. When the beloved church organist is found deceased in the woods during a stint as the village’s Santa Claus, Mercy (who wants nothing more than to bask in her daughter Felicity’s first Christmas) finds herself trying to discover who is behind the killing and more possibly related crimes.
As in the previous books in this series, the crime — no matter how deftly plotted — plays second fiddle to the cast of characters who feel like family and the cozy Vermont setting that seems like home. Paula always incorporates Elvis’ and Susie Bear’s roles as working dogs into the story, making them more than window dressing.
With The Snow Lies Deep, readers will enter a familiar world of small-town mystery and learn how two dogs help solve crimes and warm hearts in the depth of winter.
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