The Second Grave (Main)

K-9 cops lend a paw to solve a slew of killings connected to a 1994 bank robbery. In a murky prologue, octogenarian Jim Severson wanders into the forest of Illinois' Kankakee River State Park with dark but unspecified intentions. The story stays in Kankakee but switches to the first-person voice of easygoing dog handler Cory Pratt and his canine sidekicks, bloodhound Alice and springer spaniel Rex. Cory previously provided assistance to his sister, Crystal, a young detective with the Chicago Police Department, and she enlists his help again, this time to search Kankakee for the missing Severson. With canine help, he discovers a mass grave and traces the victims buried there to the infamous robbery of the Crown National Bank. The large cast of supporting characters introduced as the crime is revisited include various relatives of the suspects and FBI fixer Zack Mueller. Intermittent flashbacks to 1994 dramatize the details of the robbery. Back in the present, Catherine Dando, the mother of one of the robbery suspects, mysteriously goes missing. The discovery of her body shortly afterwards adds urgency to the investigation. Burton works overtime juggling his enormous cast of characters. In addition to the five alleged perps and their clans, there are a clutch of additional detectives: Horton, Andreen, and Lahlum of the CPD, along with Chuck Sims, a very helpful retired detective who conveniently remembers the case and now works at Kankakee River State Park. Sibling sleuths Cory and Crystal have a nice chemistry, but readers may long for more canines and fewer cops. A brisk, crowded Windy City crime yarn, with dogs. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.