A DEATH IN DOOR COUNTY

An outdoor paradise turns deadly.

Door County, along Lake Michigan, offers recreational boaters and sport fishers a “tiny slice of bliss.” But something beneath the water’s tranquil surface is leaving a trail of death. It starts with animals, a fish and a deer whose bodies appear to have been mauled by a giant creature on the scale of the Loch Ness monster. Later there are human victims with distinctive, disturbing bite marks: kayaker Oliver Sykes and salmon fisher Will Stokstad. Jon Flanders, chief of police on Washington Island, is concerned enough to hire Morgan Carter, who owns Odds and Ends, a shop filled with examples of nature gone wrong. Morgan, who spent her formative years traveling the world with her cryptozoologist parents in search of monsters including Nessie herself, has a healthy respect for the supernatural. So she’s more than sympathetic to Flanders’ concern that there may be some fantastical creature in the lake preying on unsuspecting tourists. But she’s enough of a pragmatist to realize that there are many possible reasons for humans to kill other humans. As she investigates, she begins to form a bond with Flanders, but memories of toxic past relationships limit her ability to trust him. A terrifying encounter on the lake urges her onward to get quite literally to the bottom of the mystery.

A satisfying adventure cozy.