DEAD LIL' HUSTLER

Two murders bring bad publicity to the normally quiet tourist town of Loon Lake, Wis.

Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris is called to the Pine River, where kayakers have discovered the body of a local banker, an employee of multimillionaire Bud Jarvison, in a snowmobile suit. The man and his machine may look like they went through the ice accidentally back in the winter, but the bullet hole in his head proves otherwise. Since the coroner is a know-nothing political appointee, Lew would love to call once more on her friend, retired dentist Paul “Doc” Osborne, to help. But Doc’s at the hospital with his grandson, who has contracted meningitis. Before Lew even gets a chance to investigate, Jake Barber shows up looking for his missing son Liam, who’s working a summer internship collecting invasive plant species and spending his spare time practicing tenkara, the Japanese art of fly fishing. This time, Doc—who needs a distraction from his ailing grandson—and fishing-and-hunting guide Ray Pradt join in the search, which takes them to a dangerous part of the forest, an area known for a large pack of wolves who have already killed a number of valuable hunting dogs. When the searchers find Liam's body, again on the Pine River, it’s clear that he too was killed by a rifle shot to the head. Now Lew and her helpers must connect the common place where these two unrelated people met their deaths to a common motive.

Lew’s 14th case, as easily solved as all the others (Dead Insider, 2013, etc.), is notable mainly for its fishing and wolf lore and its loving descriptions of a beautiful area of Wisconsin.