Customer Reviews

The Last Song Dogs (Trade Ellis Mysteries)

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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 already into the increasingly popular subgenre of mysteries based on contemporary western female cops and P.I.s - written by women like J.A. Jance, Nevada Barr and Sue Grafton - will enjoy adding the first of Sinclair Browning's Trade Ellis series to their reading. But even if you're not a devotee, this is a great read by one of Southern Arizona's most enjoyable writers.

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.

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.

I really liked this book. It is the first I have read of the author's and I am looking forward to reading her others. I don't travel and I love mysteries. Here was a book that gave me a good mystery and described the land and life on a ranch in Arizona with such detail I was able to picture it clearly. In doing that the author put this book far ahead of the "straight" mysteries. In addition to the mystery, the descriptions of life on the ranch and Trade's interaction with her animals, helped keep the pages turning faster. It was a very enjoyable read and I would recommend that you don't miss out on it.

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 a great sense of humor. Browning combines it all into a great story.

Browning isn't an ordinary mystery writer. She's much better. Thank goodness some intelligent women are expanding the genre beyond blood, guts, guns and senseless fists and instead creating stories about motivations instead of mere mayhem.

.She's written at least two later Trade Ellis mysteries. This is one mystery writer who deserves success. Read it. You'll be delighted.

In the first Trade Ellis mystery novel, rancher/P.I. Trade--she's one-quarter Apache, the rest Irish and Scots--is hired by two former classmates from Javelina High, whose 25-year reunion is coming up. Charlene and Buffy were both cheerleaders--"Song Dogs," named for the coyotes of Arizona "because they also howled"--and they're worried because several members of the squad have recently turned up dead: one poisoned, one shot, and one, most recently, missing except for her arms, which were found by a street person. At first Trade is puzzled--why would any of the Javelina alums have waited a quarter of a century to pay off a presumed old grudge?--but gradually she begins to uncover a lot of secrets, some dating back to before graduation, some newer. With financial misconduct, marital infidelity, and weird personalities all thrown into the mix, it's a case that challenges her abilities--and, in fact, she almost doesn't get the right perp in the end.

Trade is a fascinating character who tells the story of the case herself and is surrounded by personalities both human and otherwise, ranging from her Arabian horses Gray and Dream and her mongrel dog Mrs. Fierce to Sanders, the rancher next door, and Charley, computer wizard and hacker extraordinaire and a lone PI's best friend where information-gathering is concerned. Browning is herself a cowgirl/rancher and a native of Arizona who throws plenty of local color into her story. The resolution of the case is a surprise and full of tension and action. Readers who love the West--old and new--and a good old-fashioned mystery should enjoy this book.

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.

In La Ciegna, Arizona, lays Trade Ellis' Vaca Grande ranch. Trade not only is a top notch cowhand, she also works as a private investigator. Her cases typically consist of insurance scams and cheating spouses. However, currently she has the biggest case of her career. Someone is systematically mutilating the Song Dogs, her own high school's cheerleaders from twenty-five years ago. Of the eight, four have died under very ugly circumstances in the last three months.

Two of the surviving individuals, Charlene Williamson and Buffy Patina, hire Trade to ferret out the killer. Trade quickly finds evidence that clearly links the murders. However, determining who is the culprit remains difficult. In high school and the subsequent years since, the Song Dogs, known as the high school's "golden girls" have made many enemies.

Sinclair Browning's debut novel is a rousing success. The mystery is cleverly formulated as the perpetrator once revealed by the author becomes obvious (in a Monday morning quarterbacking way). Trade is a likable individual, who seems real because she knows fear even though she intrepidly continues her task. THE LAST SONG DOGS hopefully is the first installment of what should be a delightful series.

Harriet Klausner

Open up "The Last Song Dogs," a debut mystery by Sinclair Browning, and the temptation was irrestible to deconstruct its private investigator, Trade Ellis.

She's part Apache, comments on the culture clashes and takes part in native American ceremonies. Tony Hillerman? She's single, in her fourties, dates sometimes and tells her story with that sometimes world-weary edge of the outsider. Sue Grafton? Plus, when she's not investigating, she's running her family's 600-acre cattle ranch outside Tuscon, Arizona. Hmmm, Marnie Davis Kellog, only without the money?

No author would appreciate that kind of treatment, but Trade is composed of such disparate parts that it was hard to take her seriously at first. It even seemed a bit of a spoil to pair her with a conventional mystery involving the murder of a squad of high school cheerleaders 25 years after the last pom-pom was thrown. A Western noirish title like "The Last Song Dogs" deserved better.

Anyway, cheerleaders we got so we're stuck with them. Trade went to school with the members of the Song Dogs, so when three of them died within three months: one by salmonella poisoning, another shot and robbed, and the third brutally killed, the surviving women ask Trade to investigate. The resulting mystery runs along conventional lines. Trade tracks down the remaining Song Dogs, as well as the classmates who knew them. Some of the women have married well, some haven't, and one even spent time in jail for manslaughter. There's a creepy character with an unusual collection, and Trade gets followed and run off the road. Eventually, she cracks the case, but not before pulling a boneheaded stunt that had to be done to set up the standard final confrontation. Yet, while the story ran along conventional lines, Trade is an amiable detective to follow, and one hopes for a better story next time.

This book has some great qualities, especially that intriguing and lyrical title, but overall it's a rather tedious read. Trade Ellis is a rancher/private investigator. Descriptions of her ranch life and the Arizona landscape in which she lives and works are by far the best parts of this book. Unfortunately, Trade's first murder investigation presents a hackneyed plot. The cheerleaders with whom she went to school are being systematically killed off. Suspicion falls on five former classmates. Each seems equally likely to have committed the crime and Browning doesn't present any credible red herrings to drive the reader to reach his/her own conclusion--right or wrong. The story trudges obediently to its end and only curiosity to see whodunit pulls the reader along.

My suggestion would be to pass this book up, or read it quickly, and get on to Browning's second Trade Ellis mystery, The Sporting Club. The second book is by far a deeper and more interesting mystery and in it Browning has greatly improved her plotting. The Last Song Dogs is no better than a mediocre read.