The End of The Road

Maxie and Stretch #4

by Sue Henry

New from the multiple award-winning author of The Refuge , whose "grasp of storytelling and strong characterization matches her with Sue Grafton."( Colorado Springs Gazette )

Maxie McNabb and her miniature dachshund, Stretch, are just back from their latest adventure when a murder shatters the quiet in their hometown of Homer, Alaska. Now it's up to Maxie to find the killer-a search that leads her to a place called "the end of the road."

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Adult, Cozy, Dogs, Amateur Sleuth

214 pages, Hardcover

First published October 14, 2009

About the author

Sue Henry is the author of 17 novels in two award-winning Alaska mystery series. Her first book, "Murder on the Iditarod Trail" (1991), was well reviewed and won both the Macavity Awards and Anthony Awards for best first novel, prompting the author to develop a series based on this book's characters, Alaskan state trooper Alex Jensen and Jessie Arnold, a sled dog racer.

In 2005, she started a new mystery series featuring a 63-year-old widow, Maxine McNab, travelling in her Winnebago with a miniature dachshund, Stretch. Maxine had appeared in Dead North (2001) in the first series.

Murder on the Iditarod Trail was filmed for television as The Cold Heart of a Killer (1996) starring Kate Jackson, who bought the rights to the book. Sue Henry lived in Alaska for more than a quarter of a century, and brought history, Alaskan lore, and the majestic beauty of the vast landscape to her mysteries. She also taught writing at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.

Reviews

[``Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could become addicted to these cozy mysteries if I let myself. It's all my mother's fault though - she practically insisted I read the Lillian Jackson Braun 'The Cat Who books.'
I kept resisting her will, told her I didn't read that sort of book...but mother is always right and I finally broke down and read The Cat Who Saw Red. I then proceeded to read every The Cat Who book in print and loved them.

I found this Sue Henry book on sale for a couple of dollars and thought I'd give it a try. Her cozy mysteries are set in Alaska and I thought it would be an interesting place to visit via book if not in real life.

What a pleasant way to spend a few hours reading this delightful book full of warm and friendly people as they try to restore order to their little town of Homer, Alaska when tragedy strikes. Why can't real life be like this I sometimes wonder. If you're feeling tired and slightly under the weather this winter I think you will enjoy reading this book too.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

The End of the Road is the second title in the Maxie and Stretch Cozy Mystery Series I've read. It's lovely story with a lovely protagonist. We had a miniature dachshund like Stretch in my family while growing up. His canine mannerisms and behavior are spot-on. I like Maxie's gritty perseverance and natural curiosity. She stays in Alaska for this story, a nice change of pace.

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

It pains me to give this book one star. While these books are not great literature, I love the Alaskan setting and usually the story line is entertaining. I've also enjoyed the audios because the narrators have been great and they even pronounce all the Alaskan names correctly. When the pronunciation isn't right and because it is such a pet peeve of mine, it is like fingernails on the chalkboard annoying, when they haven't done their research.

This book had all of these problems. The pronunciation was abysmal. It was so bad, that I didn't want to finish this book, but I was too lazy to find another book for a specific book challenge I'm working on. Next, the story line was so convoluted. I was shocked I was reading the same author I've come to enjoy. The MC, when referring to her little dog to friends as well as to total strangers, would talk about his future demise and how sad life would be without her little sidekick. Who does that? The dog wasn't old, or sick, or in mortal danger! It was just a weird and unsatisfactory little story that seemed like a craft project gone awry.

[DeeAnn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really disappointed in this book. Coming from Alaska and seeing that the author lives there I was discouraged when she didn't even get the spelling correct on the Dimond Mall. It is not Diamond...it is named after A.J. Dimond.

Next, were the problems with the story...if you came home from a short vacation and found your front door open and that someone had been in your home wouldn't you call the police? Not this dumb broad! Wouldn't you check your WHOLE house? Not this dumb broad!

I should give it a 1 out of 5, but I love Homer, Alaska, the setting for this book...so I cut it a little slack!

I am going to try one more book by Sue Henry and if it is this bad she is off the list...there are too many GOOD books out there to waste my time with idiotic characters and bad place names.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time read of this author. Really enjoyed the book. Interesting characters and great story line. Widow Maxie and her Dachshund Stretch encounter a mysterious stranger calling himself John Walker while out for a walk. Maxie gives him a lift back to town and invites him to dinner. Days later after the dinner party, Maxie awakes to find a stack of books on her porch with a note from John. Shortly thereafter, Maxie gets a call to come to the Inn in town. When she arrives she learns John has committed suicide. To avoid all the phone calls that ensue, Maxie and Stretch leave town for a breather. Maxie notices a woman who appears to be following her but she shakes it off. Upon returning to town, a woman claiming to be John's sister shows up on her doorstep. What follows her arrival is murder and more mystery surrounding the mysterious John. This was a really good read. Looking forward to more adventures with Maxie and Stretch.

[Eileen Lynx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good story. Very sad that it is the last story in the series.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Earlier books in Sue Henry’s “Maxie and Stretch” series have described the protagonists (human and canine) travels while wintering away from their base in Homer, Alaska. This book deviates from that pattern, in that the characters decide to remain in Alaska for the entire year.

I found this book to be frustrating. I certainly expect a cozy mystery to contain snippets of the main character’s daily activities, along with interactions with a set of quirky friends while stumbling into and working towards uncovering a mystery. This book, however, devotes most of its content to those interactions among characters who would better be described as “ordinary” than “quirky” – or “bland”, rather than “interesting” – and little to none with an actual mystery.

As an aside: There is an undercurrent that surfaces in various aspects of the book, in which the character looks at the deaths of her former husbands, the advancing age of her dachshund Stretch, and the mortality of the lead character herself. Given that this turned out to be the last novel published by the author – an announced book in her other series has never seen the light of day – and frankly, the decline in quality over earlier works by the author, I have to wonder if Ms. Henry was sending a message to her readers that she was also contemplating her own mortality.

RATING: 2 stars. I questioned whether it would be more polite for this amateur reviewer to simply “bury” the review rather than post it. However, it appears I am not the only person who felt this work to be weak when compared to the author’s earlier efforts. I hope that I worded it professionally and with courtesy to a living, breathing, human being who could be sitting at the other side of a computer screen reading what some stranger thought about her efforts.

[Cozybooklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Clever and Suspenseful Story

I have passed by this book several times and today I said why not? I am so thrilled that I gave it a try. This was an intensive story with plenty of humor thrown in to keep it cozy.
Maxie has decided to stay in Homer, Alaska this winter season instead of driving her RV to warmer climates. With her faithful sidekick Stretch by her side, Maxi is looking forward to staying warm and visiting with friends in the bleak Alaskan winter.
When she runs into a stranger in her little home town, she has no idea the series of events that will occur from her gesture of kindness.
This is a bit out of the box for a cozy mystery, but I admit I could not put it down. I've definitely found a new author and I look forward to reading more!
Stretch is the best character in the story. The little dog will bring a smile to your face.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Enjoyed this mostly because the setting is Homer, Alaska and Anchorage where I have spent two great vacations . It was a slow paced cozy with a great sense of place. An apparent suicide of a very nice new acquaintance is both troubling and unsettling to Maxie, the protagonist. There are many questions about his identity and his life prior to coming to Homer. A belt which is found by Stretch, Maxie's little dachshund, commemorating 9/1, adds to the mystery and Maxie's sense of unease that things are not what they seem. Added to that, someone breaks into her house while she is in Anchorage and makes themselves at home for the few days she is gone. Why? These questions are answered in a strange but satisfying conclusion.

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why female authors feel they must make their female led characters stupid or lack common sense to make a story work is beyond me. Maybe Sue Henry should retire the Maxie McNabb character and go back to writing the Jessie Arnold character who’s an independent, strong and smart woman. Sue Henry is one of my favorite authors but the Maxie McNabb character is disappointing.

[Heather Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, I usually like me a good Sue Henry (though way happier with Jessie books than Maxie books) but this was just bad. I like to think it suffers from the "bestselling author and editor needing the book on a deadline so it's not actually edited" symdrome. Sigh. A pretty disappointing few hours of fluff read...

[Antonietta tesfaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a very light cozy mystery. One dimension mystery. It’s pretty straightforward there’s really no secondary storylines going on except for the mystery. It’s very slow pace and very straight forward no frills cozy mystery. The characters are kind of doll and slow.

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasant series, mature woman main character - what's not to like. Well plotted, narrated and recommended.

[Tomi · Rating 1 out of 5]

It sucked. The weakest plot I have ever seen and nothing more than a rambling weaving of different characters for no reason.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blah!

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick read. Nothing spectacular, rather it was quite elementary? the dialogue was that of what i wrote in english class in high school, bad, unnatural, and stilted. people do not talk like that.
it was also very repetitive as many other reviews say. we go over the same few details (since there are not many until the very end of the book) several times. what if we moved along in the plot and then analyzed the details? that would make a more compelling read to those that like and enjoy mysteries. i've never read a "cozy mystery" before so i guess maybe i don't know what i should have expected, but i found this boring, repetitive, and honestly very frustrating.
the main character comes off as a fool, which from my understanding of reading others reviews who have read her previous works, should not be the case as this is the final installment of a 4 book series for her character.
Maxie: she just tells anyone and everyone all of her business, invited strangers into her home and life, and just has no sense of self preservation. like at all. her home was broken into while she was away, she loves mysteries yet won't call law enforcement and literally washes all of the evidence away?? her home was broken into, she knows a strange woman has been following her and when a strange woman shows up at her door she just invited her in?? her home was broken into, she knows a strange woman has been following her, she invited a strange woman in and then invites her to spend the night?? in her home that has been broken into and suspects a woman as the culprit and here she is inviting a strange woman to come in and spend the night?? seems rather foolish and down right stupid.
additionally (this is turning into somewhat of a rant, i swear i didn't hate reading it this much) she even says that she didn't believe the woman's story initially so why was she so trusting only of "the look in her eyes"??
there were many plot holes in the book and tangents that ultimately did not lead to anything other than adding pages to the book. the whole saga with her son really served no purpose. she would have pretty much just as much information as if he hadn't visited. the visit to jessie's place served no purpose as we never find out why the sister was following her in the first place? or if it was even her in Wasilla. why did she immediately trust two strangers but refuse to speak to people she has known for decades who wanted to see what happened? she didn't ask the random woman who showed up at her doorstep anything about who she is or for any verification and did not call law enforcement. all of her sleuthing and speculating is for naught because the murderer reveals herself at the end (no reader can just insert a random character to put the blame on and be taken seriously) and has nothing to do with the clues maxie found via the whiskey bottles and the photo in the book. so what was even the point? to establish a relationship with trooper nelson so he would be able to rescue her i guess but that seems a fairly weak reason to include all of the story telling for that to just have it not matter.
also not sure why we spend soo much time talking about her dog dying in the future - this is sad and relatable, i often thought of my dog dying and what life would look like after that, but had quite literally nothing to do with the story at hand. and i mean nothing at all.
again, easy read - went down quick, but rather annoying and felt like i was reading a high school english project rather than a several times published author.

[Dyana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't been able to get above three stars in this four book series. It's a s-l-o-w-paced cozy mystery. In the first three books Maxie McNabb and her dachshund named Stretch traveled around the lower 48 during the winter in her RV. Most of those books read like a travelogue of the places she was visiting. In this one she has decided to stay in her home town of Homer, Alaska (AKA the end of the road) for the winter. Because of this, the fourth reads like a diary of her life in and around Homer, events like dinner parties, descriptions of stores and what's in them, cleaning out closets, playing games with friends, cooking, etc. A positive note is that there were vivid descriptions and thoughts about all these happenings.

The mystery begins with Maxie taking Stretch for a walk out along the spit and the tourist area, which has been boarded up for the winter, on Kachemak Bay. At a picnic table she meets a lone drifter names John E. Walker who is engaging but cryptic. She ends up taking him back to town when it begins raining heavily. The next day she invites him to dinner with her son Joe and some close friends. He is friendly but doesn't give out any information about himself. Later, he leaves 2 books on her doorstep in the middle of the night and asks Maxie to return them to the used bookstore. The next day he is found dead in his room of an apparent suicide. Maxie remembers him saying on the beach, "Maybe I'll decide to spend what's left of my life at the end of the road".

Since it is a small town, it doesn't take long for the police to contact Maxie and ask her about what she knows about John. Not much! It turns out his name is false, and his fingerprints are not on file anywhere. Because she is receiving too many calls from friends, she decides to spend a few days in Anchorage doing some Christmas shopping. There she spends a couple of days with Jessie Arnold and Alex Jensen (from another Sue Henry series). Maxie notices a woman on the short flight who she sees several more times on her trip. Is she being tailed?

Upon arriving home Maxie discovers that someone has been staying in her house and using her possessions. She knows that it is a woman by the smell of perfume left behind. Then a woman shows up who claims to be John's sister with some convoluted story about his disappearance after 9-11 when his wife was killed. The sister, Amy Fletcher, tells her the saga of looking for John for several years. Maxie invites Amy to stay overnight - REALLY? - a perfect stranger. Who would do that in today's reality???

It turns out John was actually murdered, and Maxie is used in a sting operation to capture the murderer which doesn't turn out as planned. The ending was, in my opinion, rushed, disappointing, and unsatisfactory. The suspense was limited to a couple of pages. The mystery seems like an after thought. What I like is that Stretch is just a lovable dog and doesn't heroically save the day. Henry also has a gift of description even if it is sometimes tiresome. For me this is probably a forgettable story. Maxie does a lot of ruminating about her two dead husbands, what life will be like without Stretch, and her own mortality. Just an OK read.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never read a Sue Henry book before, so why am I starting with the final book in a quartet, which itself is a spin-off from her main series? Well, I needed an audiobook, and while searching for something else, this beautiful cover + appealing title + short runtime caught my eye. Libby, unfortunately, only has the last two in the series, so in case I only ended up wanting to read one, I picked the setting that sounded better. But I think it worked out okay. Maxie is a hoot and a half, and her little Dachshund, Stretch, is THE cutest lil' bugger.

One of my favorite things about cozy mysteries, I've decided, is how much they highlight the mundane. In this one, for instance, we're twenty percent of the way in before a body appears. It's presented as a clear suicide, so other than mild curiosity when it turns out the man was using a false name for some reason and nobody knows who he is, Maxie's much busier living her life: taking her dog for a run on the beach, running errands, stopping at a secondhand bookstore, catching up with friends, tidying the house and fielding a brief visit from her son. On more than one occasion she goes grocery shopping and describes the (delicious) meals being made. It all made the late fall/early winter weather very cozy and appealing.

Oh! And she plays Farkel with her friends, which, amazing. I've never seen anyone name-check that in a book before but my parents & I play it all the time and have since 2009.

Anyway, that makes it almost bewildering to suddenly be hit with the mystery aspect when she returns from staying with a friend and finds that someone has...used her house as a hotel while she was gone?? Stole her spare key and made themselves at home, based on the number of things that have been moved and an unfamiliar perfume in her bed, but also picked up after themselves, without taking anything. What in the weirdest break-in ever, especially as nothing much seems to come of it. (edit: even weirder since I now know this also happened in the previous book, but that time it turned out to be her son & his girlfriend coming to visit without realizing she was out of state.)

And then in the last fifteen to twenty percent, suddenly there is a WHOLE LOT of action and reveals and high-stakes suspense flying at you out of nowhere. It's absolutely wild and at odds with basically the entire book so far. I loved it. Not sure it feels particularly like a series ender (additional books could easily have been added on here), but the other thing about cozy mysteries is that they're all pretty self-contained, so it ends as well as any other installment.

[Kristie J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this book to read while on vacation in Alaska this summer and I enjoyed the setting in Homer, Alaska and the references to Alaska. It's an easy-to-read cozy mystery with a likable main character, Maxie, and her cute dog, Stretch. The mystery of the unknown man who was found dead in the local hotel was interesting and kept me guessing until the end. However, I didn't like this book quite as much as the 3rd book in the series, The Refuge, which was set on the Big Island of Hawaii. This book felt like it had too many mundane details, repeatedly telling other characters what the reader already knew, and some unnecessary scenes such as the entire description of Maxie visiting her friends Jessie and Alex. I didn't realize until the end of the book that Jessie and Alex apparently are the main characters in the author's other mystery series, which I haven't read. Overall, this book was pleasant and easy to read, but did not have quite enough action and was wrapped up a little too simply. It looks like there are only four books in this series so I will probably read the other two at some point, probably when I travel again.

[Wanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maxie befriends a man she meets while walking at the spit in Homer. Several days later he is found dead in his hotel room. She is curious why and who he really was. Later a woman comes to her house claiming to be the man's sister and then disappears. A woman's dead body is found in Maxie's attic and things get very complicated. She is mystified why someone would put a body there. Her life is in danger and she works with the local state trooper to figure out a way to stay alive and catch the crook.
She has several other things going on in her life at the same time. Her son comes to visit and is trying to decide what to do about his girlfriend taking a job in Portland while he lives in Seattle. They finally decide to get married and Maxie is involved with some planning for that. She is also involved in the lives of the residents of Homer and goes to visit some friends in Wasilla.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this at a little shop in Girdwood. And have been waiting until Homer to read it! It was an easy read. Another reviewer described it as a cozy little mystery. That pretty much sums it up.
It took a bit to get into but started to pick up about half way in. I felt like a lot of the story was long and drawn out, except the ending. That was completed in the last ten pages.
But... there were some things that were off. Like, if Webster heard everything Trooper Nelson told Maxie, why wouldn't she take the cell phone? And what was the deal with Amy Fletcher? She was a small part of the plot but not really necessary.
What threw me most though, is that Maxie finds a dead body in her attic but remains in the house and even have friends over once Webster is arrested. Almost as if finding bodies and nearly being killed is a normal, everyday thing.
A few loose ends but still enjoyable. I've got another book by this author and look forward to reading it.

[Marty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This turned out to be a better than average cozy mystery! --- It wasn’t full of nitsy-cutesy happenings that so often are in cozys. This was a good tale with nice people all acting in rational ways. … This book gives us a glimpse of life in Homer Alaska, For many people, Homer, Alaska, seems to be the “end of the road” and so it was for John Walker, a visitor to the town –who ended up not committing suicide as was suspected – but being a murdered. Maxie McNabb and her miniature dachshund Stretch met John Walker while out walking on the spit – a finger of land that protects Homer’s harbor. John seemed nice and friendly although he didn’t give much information about himself. …. And it turned out that “John Walker” or John E. Walker” really didn’t exist! – Who was the dead man, and what was his story? An intriguing mystery. There are only 4 books in this series.

[Christie Amory · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do love learning about Alaska and like the character of Maxie and her dog Stretch. I tried this one because I like Degrees of Separation by the same author. This was a relatively easy book to listen to and it was pretty short. I wasn't fond of the story because the solution to the mystery didn't introduce all the characters involved until the end. I also didn't think that Maxie made very good decisions based on how I thought the character was described to be. I'm going to try the other books because of my intense interest in Alaska right now. I've read that the earlier ones are better stories too.

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. I was disappointed by the previous entry in this series, but as there was only one book remaining, I thought I'd give it a shot. Gritted my teeth through 75 pages, but couldn't take it anymore. Maxie and Stretch should have stayed on the road as their adventures were delightful when they were traveling about in their RV.

Back home, however, Maxie has become one of the most irritating fictional characters I've ever encountered. Is Maxie losing her marbles? She's a dedicated consumer of Jim Beam, yet the name John Walker didn't click with her? As soon as I read that name, I was thinking, "Seriously?" It was all downhill, from there.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this as an audio book. I enjoyed it, except for when the reader butchered the pronunciation of local place names in Alaska. That drove me nuts! What a shame the reader didn't take the time to learn how to say the names of places correctly.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the story which, which while fiction, included many real people in and around the Homer area, who I recognized: Andy at the Old Inlet Bookshop, Gretchen Bertsch and Yukon Island, although I think the island was renamed in the book--it's hard to say with the butchered pronunciations, etc.

I will look for more of Sue Henry's books to listen to while sewing, etc.

[Alton Motobu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great travelogue for those interested in learning about the Homer Spit in Alaska - a natural finger of land going 4 miles out in Kachemak Bay. The plot of the book is weak and full of holes - Maxie meets a drifter on the spit one day and takes him in. (Would you do such a thing?) He is found dead the next day apparently of suicide. A strange woman starts stalking Maxie around and Maxie's house is burglarized, then a dead body turns up in the attic (the strange woman). These things do not happen in real life. Lots of fun, but too many missing pieces to make sense.

[Erin Haight · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads don't come any gentler than this. Even the mortal peril scenes are written with an eye toward minimizing adrenaline expenditure. Calculated to offend no one, it didn't offend me either, but neither did it interest me all that much. Just good people being unfailingly good, except for the villain, and only for that very, very brief moment. Read the book and time will go by at exactly the rate it always has. Neither faster, nor slower.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve only just discovered Sue Henry. I like her plots and I enjoy the Alaska background. I do enjoy the Maxie books a bit more than the Jessie Arnold books.

My only complaint is that, as much as I enjoy some rambling observations and general life style views, it sometimes is overdone. In this book, Maxie spent time rehashing information to different characters. We already know the details and she could jus t comment that she updated the other person, not repeat all the details again.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is supposedly a mystery though really most of the book was about the main character Maxie hanging out with her friends. The first murder doesn't occur until half way through the listen. And, of course, the do-er doesn't appear until the book is mostly complete. How can one speculate about who done it if the person hasn't been exposed. I liked the book and the series but kept wondering if there was more to it?

[Bells Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last of this 4 book series as Sue Henry has passed. Maxine and Stretch are home in Homer Alaska and her niceness gets her in a bit of trouble. Out walking she comes across a nice guy and gives him a lift back to town and an invitation to dinner w/her friends. He accepts and everyone has a lovely dinner. That night he is found dead of a presumed suicide. However things aren’t quite so simple and Maxine digs deeper. I listened to this one.