Beast of the north woods

Wisconsin cryptozoologist Morgan Carter returns in Ryan's delightful third Monster Hunter mystery (after Death in the Dark Woods). Rita Bosworth, an employee at Morgan's Door County gift shop, comes to her one morning with a desperate request: Rita's nephew, Andrew, is the prime suspect in the murder of a young man named Brandon Kluver, who was killed in Wisconsin's north woods. The two men had a history of antagonism, and Andrew's account--that Brandon was butchered by the Hodag, a legendary beast with a froglike face, tusks, and clawed feet--is ridiculed by the police. Rita begs a skeptical Morgan to look into it, and she agrees, recalling a recent, unrelated sighting of a creature that resembled the Hodag in the same region. As Morgan prepares to go trudging through the north woods in pursuit of the amphibious menace, she receives anonymous threats attempting to dissuade her from pressing any further, which only increase her sense of urgency. Ryan once again delivers the goods, serving up a cheeky, atmospheric investigation that goes down as smoothly as an episode of Scooby-Doo but with far more narrative intricacy. This series continues to impress. Agent: Adam Chromy, Movable Type Management. (Jan.)

Cryptozoologist Morgan Carter goes hunting for the world's most unlikely murder suspect in frigid Door County, Wisconsin. The Rhinelander police have arrested Andy Bosworth for the murder of his old high school frenemy Brandon Kluver. In his defense, Andy insists that Brandon was already dying when he arrived on the wooded scene, attacked and gutted by a dim presence Andy spotted out of the corner of his eye. It was a Hodag, he tells his aunt, Rita Bosworth, who persuades Morgan, her employer at Odds and Ends, to investigate. Rhinelander police Detective Hoffman isn't exactly sympathetic to Andy's plea. And Mayor Corey Michaels and his allies are actively hostile. They descend on Morgan demanding that she cease and desist her attempts to hurt the town's brand by linking its long-time mascot, a fantasy creature first dreamed up as a hoax over a century ago, to any nefarious real-world doings. But even though Morgan, still haunted by her experience with David Johnson, the ex-fiance who murdered her parents and vanished two years ago, is initially reluctant to head this fishing expedition, which Brandon's live-in Judith Ingles calls "a fool's errand," the case has her name written all over it. After many conversations about murders past and present, endless false leads, and an annoying profusion of had-I-but-known foreshadowings, Morgan succeeds against all odds in tracking down the cryptid at the heart of the mystery, though it's not the one she had in mind. Neatly combines the codes of real-world homicide investigation and of tales of beasts from the dark side. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.