Scent of the Missing

Love and Partnership with a Search-and-Rescue Dog

By: Susannah Charleson

Narrated by: Susannah Charleson

Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

After the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Susannah Charleson was so impressed by the newspaper photo of an exhausted handler and his search-and-rescue dog that she decided to train a dog of her own. A dog lover and pilot with search experience herself, Charleson got Puzzle, a strong, bright Golden Retriever, who from the start, exhibited a unique aptitude for search-and-rescue work. But the puppy’s willfulness challenged even Susannah, who had raised dogs for years.

Scent of the Missing is the story of Susannah and Puzzle’s adventures and the complex relationship they forge as they help in the pursuit and recovery of people who have fallen prey to crime, misadventure, or catastrophe: a missing teenager, an Alzheimer’s patient wandering in the cold, signs of the crew amid the debris of the space shuttle Columbia disaster.

©2010 Susannah Charleson (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Riveting….All dog lovers should read this book.” (Temple Grandin, author of Animals Make Us Human)

“In this celebration of the human-animal bond, a fascinating woman has written eloquently about her fascinating colleague, Puzzle. I loved this book.” (Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Hidden Life of Dogs)

Loved it.

A heartwarming story about a search dog and a narrator who brings it to life.

Loved it!

Heartwarming and sensitive, humorous and poignant, with liberal insight into the SAR process. A great listen for dog lovers. Highly recommended!!

Terrific book about dogs, SAR, and training

I read this author's second book, The Possibility Dogs, years ago, and was thrilled that this book was also on Audible. It is humorous, poignant, moving, and tragic.
It is not a training manual, but is one woman's experience raising and training a SAR dog. I learned a lot about SAR, laughed knowingly at some of the antics of a growing dog, and was moved during the depiction of the space shuttle recovery.

Susannah Charleson is a terrific narrator, with plenty of energy. It sounds like she had a blast recording this, and wish she would narrate more audio books.

Such a heartwarming book!

That the author reads the story makes it so much better! I can "see" the smile on rescue dog, Puzzle's face and hear her "rooo-oooo" of success.

Ms Charleston does a great job of describing the whole rescue team process as well as training her rescue dog. She deals shows compassion for the families of rescue victims described in the book.

I loved her description of daily life with a houseful of dogs. Each with their own different personalities. Such delightful pandemonium!

Great book!

What made the experience of listening to Scent of the Missing the most enjoyable?

The author's sense of humor!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Scent of the Missing?

When I bought this from Audible, I thought this would be a nice light book to follow the heavy duty American Gods. It was light and funny but I got so much out of this book. The story is about the development of Puzzle, a Golden Retriever puppy, as a search and rescue dog. The story starts with Susannah Charleston's work with the tracking teams and her search for a dog that will become her partner. When she and Puzzle meet first the first time, it's not a meeting that bodes wonderful things. Puzzle is not super excited to meet Susannah, but Puzzle has the personality that search dogs need. So it begins. The books takes you through many examples of searches that are done as well as Puzzle becoming a certified rescue dog. Many times the book is hilarious!!I highly recommend this book. I recommend the Audible version because Susannah Charleston is the narrator. I want to actually than Ms. Charleston and Puzzle for the work they do to find lost children, Alzheimer's patients and others that need to be found.

Which scene was your favorite?

The eating of the antique fainting couch by Puzzle....

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Susannah's dealing with a loss of energy and stamina when dealing with her kidney issues and having a freshly certified dog.

Any additional comments?

Thank you Ms. Charleston for the work you do.

great book for fellow SAR teams.

very well written, also very relatable for my Jindo and Is training period. good job.

Great book!

Loved this book! I didn’t realize all that goes into training a team (dog and human) to become a search team. Loved the author’s narration too. A must book for search and rescue interests.

Just wow!

Blown away that the narrator is also the author! You took us there with you! I am a dog trainer that have had two Goldens and they truly are the greatest dogs IMO. You have done such a great job with this book!

So super good

Live reader and story so much
Highly recommend, loved it and no super scary stories in it

Enthralling story!!!

I LOVED this book! If you love dogs, you will too!! The author not only writes beautifully but her narration is equally beautiful. I didn't want the story to end!!