I expected a lot from SCENT OF MURDER by James O. Born and got more. By way of explanation, when I was just a wee lad, one of my favorite comic books was Rex the Wonder Dog. I still remember where I purchased my first issue of that comic --- at a Rexall Drug Store on Sullivant Avenue in Columbus, OH --- and while the store isn’t there anymore, I still have that comic. As an extra-powered dog, Rex was given to thinking The scent of evil...somewhere near… Accordingly, when I saw the title “Scent of Murder,” I thought This better be good! It is. And then some.

Born established his bona fides long ago. Incapable of writing badly, his Alex Duarte titles --- FIELD OF FIRE and BURN ZONE --- remain two of my favorite police procedural novels, even after all these years. SCENT OF MURDER introduces a new set of characters (and hopefully a new series) into Born’s spot-on depiction of the rough-and-tumble region of Florida’s heartland and the law enforcement personnel tasked with preserving some semblance of order. The principals involved are a former Palm Beach County Sheriff named Tim Hallett and his partner. We’ll get to the partner part of that equation in a minute. For Hallett, that “former” prefix on his career came about as the result of his arguably not observing both the spirit and letter of procedure when tracking and nabbing a child molester.

"SCENT OF MURDER is a deep work, perhaps the strongest and most emotional of Born’s novels to date.... If the ending leaves you dry-eyed and not wishing for more (much more) from Born and Hallett, then you need to read the book again."

Hallett catches a career-saving life preserver that is tossed his way when he accepts an assignment to a K-9 unit. He winds up partnered with a dog named Rocky, who provides, as the best dogs do, a center and balance for him that extends far beyond his professional life. He truly believes that he has everything together, an impression that changes in a heartbeat when he and Rocky, while investigating a kidnapping, make a discovery that puts them on the trail of a predator whose crimes are almost beyond imagination.

As the investigation progresses, Hallett discovers that his own past, and the events that almost ended his career for good, may well have a link to what he and Rocky have uncovered. And when a murder occurs, he finds himself faced with a decision that could change everything he thought was true about his past and his career, even as his partner demonstrates instinctively what courage, loyalty and, yes, love are all about.

Make no mistake: SCENT OF MURDER is a deep work, perhaps the strongest and most emotional of Born’s novels to date. There is a bond between the human and canine components of K-9 units that is perhaps like no other, and the book captures the multilayered facets of that bond in ways you won’t be able to predict. Born is a former U.S. Drug agent and Special Agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), and as a result his story and prose are shot through with the substance of reality. There is plenty of flash and whiz-bang, but he does not rely on such to move the plot along, choosing instead to utilize drama and suspense, as well as the give-and-take camaraderie between the partners, to keep the story flowing. And flow it does.

If the ending leaves you dry-eyed and not wishing for more (much more) from Born and Hallett, then you need to read the book again.