The End of the Road by Sue Henry

About the book: Maxie McNabb and her mini-dachshund, Stretch, meet a drifter who is ready to settle down in Homer, Alaska...in a most unexpected way.
Drifter John Walker has no friends in the area and no particular plans, but he's so engaging that Maxie invites the wayward soul over for dinner. The next day Walker moves on -- but a phone call informs Maxie that Walker never made it out of his motel room, where he's been found dead....
What looks like a simple suicide quickly grows complicated when the police discover that Walker never existed. His name is false. His fingerprints are not on file anywhere, and he matches no missing-person report. Caught up in the case, Maxie tries to fathom why Walker chose to end his life where the U.S. highway system ends in the waters of Kachemak Bay -- and where Maxie just might meet a dead end of her own....

First line: I woke late on Friday, the first of November, having stayed up late with a favorite book that I was reading between trips to the door in answer to the intermittent summons of several pirates, a robot costumed in cardboard boxes, a couple of skeletons, and a steady stream or other trick-or-treaters whose attire defied analysis in combination with their winter boots, coats, hats, and gloves.

My thoughts: I have been a fan of Sue Henry since I started reading her Jesse Arnold novels. These Maxie and Stretch books are an off shoot of those. I enjoyed this visit with Maxie and as usual loved Stretch. This was a nice cozy read, like visiting with an old friend. I liked the descriptions of Homer, Alaska. There wasn't much mystery and Maxie didn't actually do any poking around, everything happened around her. The ending felt rushed, it was just kind of rolled out there to bring the conclusion. It just wasn't on Sue Henry's best.
The End of the Road is the fourth book in this series. This would work as a stand alone, you wouldn't have to read the first three to be able to enjoy this one but I have to say that I liked the other books in this series better. My favorite was The Serpents Tail, so I would suggest that one to you first.

Rating:



Quote: She was not kidding about the bell. Above the counter between the kitchen and dining area is a ship's bell that I hung up back in the day when I grew weary of calling my always scattered family to dinner. it still gets regular use, even to summon Stretch, who has learned it often means food and is no dummy when it cimes to mealtimes.

Links:

Sue Henry