The Last Song Dogs (Trade Ellis)

What a great read! The descriptions of the land, the way of life and the characters were so vivid--I truly felt like I was there. A very intriguing plot with an extremely exciting and surprising ending, loved the main character and all the subtle humor sprinkled throughout. Found myself wishing I hadn't read it yet so I could re-experience reading it for the first time.

This book is delicious. There is nothing so malicious as betrayed trust -- forget about jealousy, revenge, greed, hate and pure lust, the normal human foibles that most writers use as murder motives. Browning goes straight for the heart in this story. Trust is the basis of all human relationships. Trade Ellis, the fictional private eye who Browning writes about, usually handles routine investigations. But when old school friends come to her for help, before their class 25th reunion party, she sets aside her doubts about investigating murder and trusts her friends from school. Her task, with four people already dead, is to discover who is killing their senior year cheerleading squad. She weaves a chilling story, packed with authentic detail that is obviously based on reliable law enforcement sources. She lists Asa Bushnell from the Pima County Sheriff's office as a source; I've known Asa since 1972, and he is one of the most honorable and decent newsmen ever to have worked at The Tucson Citizen and later as a press officer in the sheriff's office. Using Asa as a source on crime is better than having the Pope as a reference on Catholicism. She couldn't have found a better source. Second, she has a superb feel for Arizona ranch operations. She knows the area she writes about, I've hiked it on foot and driven through it dozens of times. Browning presents a deft and accurate image of Tucson on the other side of the mountains, it's a relief to find a mystery writer who describes in loving detail something more than a hero's macho manly motives and mischief. She offers an accurate look into the real Arizona outside the city limits. But, the essence of her story is the betrayal of trust. In a criminal case, the police suspect everyone, similar to a reporter's standard level of suspicion, "If your Mum says she loves you, check it out." Trade Ellis is neither cop nor reporter, she's a private investigator who trusts some old school friends and ends up betrayed. Some people are like that. Unlike some criminals, who have the courage to face their victims, cowards rely on the trust, honor and decency of their victims to lure them into betrayal. In this case, it's marital betrayal; the fury of a frantic woman who discovered she could not trust someone and so set about eliminating all possible rivals. You know the old saying, "A man suspects one other man, a woman suspects every other woman." Okay, so that's the start. When sexual betrayal is uncovered, it literally tears the victim's heart out and tramples it in the dust. Nothing is so cruel as this betrayal of trust. Browning captures this mood deftly. It leaves the victim shattered. Be prepared to learn what the impact of betrayal is like, and how it destroys lives. Now, take those components -- authentic settings and police procedures plus a motive that strikes fear into any decent heart -- and you have the mixture for a more than ordinary mystery. What's more, she writes with

Trade Ellis has her hands full and I loved it. This mystery mixes the problems of a detective who is trying to solve some terrible murders with the problems of geting through her daily routine with a nice mix of adventure and humor. I could really envision the life of this character. She not only works as a private detective but she runs a ranch and maintains a decent relationship with her family. She is part Apache and has hispanic ranch hands which gives the reader a little glimpse of this part of Arizonas' diverse culture. She is actually an orphan but keeps a strong relationship with her Indian Grandmother and family. Her clash with her Uncle (he's not too excited about her hunting a murderer) reveals the close family bond and helps build her character. Arizona culture jumps from the pages--the horse rides to help her think and figure things out, the ranch help that's more like family and her great dogs made me feel like an old friend of Trades'. The mystery takes her back into the relationships she had in High School--some good, some not so good, while she tries to figure out who is murdering the Song Dogs, who were the girls in the pep squad when she was in school. The murders take Trade on a hunt to figure out why, after so many years out of high school, would someone murder these ladies who have all gone their seperate ways. I enjoyed the mystery because Trade is smart and bright--not the typical overly predictable PI. Overall the book was very entertaining and fun to read.

I really enjoyed The Last Song Dogs. I think Trade Ellis is a believable character--she's bright and witty, strong willed and yet still fallible. It's not a western story but it has the charm of the Southwest and gives insight about her way of life. The fact that she is part Apache Indian gives Trade an edge that I appreciate. There's something about sense of duty, to her family and ranch, which is heartwarming while revealing another side of her character that give her that realistic quality. One of my favorite events in the book is when she went into her office after seeing that it had been trashed. Did she go in like an idiot and possibly run right into the culprit? Or did she run away screaming like a scared and helpless little girl? No. She pulled out her .38--that's the way to go girl! This book was fun to read; if you're interested in a down to earth, realistic character who has a very interesting life. I've read the next novel, The Sporting Club and Trade Ellis' character continues to entertain. I hope you find The Last Song Dogs as enjoyable as I have.

Sinclair Browning's new mystery series character Trade Ellis is a ranch-owning cowgirl private eye who shares a great many personal characteristics with - Sinclair Browning. The author, known to her friends as "Zeke", grew up on a ranch in Cochise County and calls herself " a dirty shirt cowgirl". Which has much to do with why her Trade Ellis persona is both authentic and believable. Trade lives northwest of Tucson in a small village that's clearly Catalina, where Browning has lived for the last 20 years. Trade drives a big Cummins diesel 3/4 ton Dodge pick-up, the kind of vehicle that makes macho guys drool. It also happens to be the vehicle of choice for Browning, who you may catch driving down the road in her own Dodge, the custom license plate " WRIDER" paying homage to her two greatest loves - horses and books.Southern Arizona landmarks abound in her fiction, and the mountains and cafes in The Last Song Dogs ar no exception. "Song dog" dear gringo is another term for coyote. It also happens to be what Trade's old high school cheerleaders called themselves; and as their 25 year reunion is about to commence, somebody's knocking them off one by one. Another authentic biographical note: Browning was herself a member of her high-school cheerleading squad.Browning also does a great job with her other characters. Anyone who has ever been to a later high school reunion will recognize many of them (and their behavior), as well as a few folks from those working Arizona ranches that have yet to be converted to tile roofs and golf courses. And the plot moves and twists fast enough to keep the pages turning.Browning is known for two previous historical novels: Enju, concerning the Camp Grant massacre, and America's Best, based on the true experiences of her husband's family as prisoners of the Japanese in the Phillipines during World War Two. She's also the co-author of the very successful Lyons on Horses now in its 20th printing (including a German edition).Dog's Western ranch material and native American lore will surely fascinate both westerners and urban dwelling yankees much in the way that Tony Hillerman's books have built a captive audience among those who think everything west of the Hudson is Indian COuntry.Like Hillerman, Browning is the genuine article. Most of the New Yorkers who publish this stuff can't tell, as evidenced by a simple perusal of their non-fiction offerings. (See Earp, Wyatt, as an example). Browning is good enough that she could convince most of them that boiled jackrabbit ears are an Arizona ranch delicacy.Fortunately, she hasn't. Instead, she writes gloriously about Southern Arizona and produces a first-rate suspense novel to boot. She shares with Hillerman one other valuable commodity. The lady can write! Publisher's Weekly says: " The action moves briskly and is boosted by the motley cast of characters and Browning's inspired descriptions of the Southwest landscape." Theose who are a