Dead Madonna (A Loon Lake Mystery) - Softcover

Houston, Victoria

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1440582270 ISBN 13: 9781440582271

Publisher: Gallery Books, 2014

Synopsis

Whoever thought life in the Northwoods could be this dangerous?

When the body of a lovely young woman is found floating beneath a party pontoon on a popular lake in northern Wisconsin on the same morning that a prominent widow is found bludgeoned in her gracious home, Loon Lake Police Chief Lew Ferris is caught short-handed.

This is not a problem for Doc Osborne, whom she deputizes to act as coroner and to assist with the investigation. Fishing aside, there's nothing Osborne likes better than helping Lew--a world-class fly fisherman in her own right--delve into Loon Lake's criminal underworld. They're joined in their efforts to untangle two seemingly unrelated murders by walleye-expert, talented tracker, and teller of really bad jokes, Ray Pradt.

A charming resort town on the surface, life in Loon Lake turns murky as bank officials soon discover that both victims' accounts have been looted--along with a dozen others. One grisly development after another further links the two murders even though the victims did not know each other. Wealthy Chicagoans, visiting entrepreneurs, and the young denizens of "Party Cove" complicate the scene.

About this title

About the Author

In her teens and twenties, mystery author Victoria Houston was the classic hometown girl who couldn't wait to leave her small Wisconsin town. She has not only returned to her hometown, Rhinelander, but she has based her popular Loon Lake mystery series in the region's fishing culture.

From Booklist

Loon Lake is a typically sleepy Wisconsin resort town--except for its per-capita homicide rate, which rivals that of Baghdad. A young woman is found dead beneath a wealthy vacationer's houseboat, and another local is discovered bludgeoned to death in her living room. Police Chief Lewellyn "Lew" Ferris is hard pressed to investigate both with her limited staff, and enlists Doc Osborne, her sometime lover, retired dentist, ad-hoc coroner, and occasional deputy, to help solve the apparently unrelated deaths. With the local citizenry chipping in as needed, Lew and Doc soon have a dozen looted bank accounts as a possible motive and a pair of slick strangers who may provide a thread to connect the killings. Fans of small-town mysteries--such as Bill Crider's Texas-based Dan Rhodes capers--will find the eighth entry in the Loon Lake series a likable change of pace from some of the more grisly whodunits populating the best-seller lists. Houston populates her little burg with two engaging protagonists and a steady stream of mildly eccentric townies as she leisurely moves a clever plot toward a suspenseful and satisfying conclusion. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1440582270
• ISBN 13: 9781440582271
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256