Dead Spider by Victoria Houston

This book is part of the Loon Lake Mystery series, and in this one police chief Lewellyn Ferris and retired veterinarian Doc Osborne must solve a murder that shatters the picturesque Wisconsin lake town community at the height of summer.

On a lovely Sunday afternoon in late June, the annual Loon Lake Youth Fishing Tournament is coming to a close. People are happy, kids are full of ice cream, and teenagers are setting off firecrackers so loud that no one hears the gunshot.

But when the crowd thins out, an attractive young wife makes a grisly discovery: A single bullet to the head has killed her much older husband—the richest man in Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, as the murder investigation gets underway, Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris's good friend and deputy coroner, “Doc” Osborne, is alarmed to hear that his oldest grandchild, fifteen-year-old Beth, has been caught in a drug sting.

And Loon Lake’s idyllic summer is further shattered when numerous elderly patients in the local nursing home discover they have been robbed.

“Victoria Houston’s love for her Wisconsin setting—and her wonderful characters—is evident on every page of her fine series” (New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman).

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publication Date: May 2017

Angela's Review

I picked up this book at Once Upon a Crime, an independent book store in Minneapolis, MN. The idea of the book intrigued me partially because the series is set in the northwoods of Wisconsin. I had no idea which book was the first in the series and this one was not, but I don't think that negatively impacted my reading experience. It turns out that this is the 17th book in the series.

This book did not sit on my bookshelf for long. I was fast approaching the end of the year and I was 5 books away from my self-imposed annual reading goal. This book looked attractive to me because it was just 208 pages long. It was a real page turner and I read it in one night. It is a well crafted mystery set in a charming small town with memorable characters.

It’s interesting to see small town politics at play in the novel. Houston has done her research about how small police departments function: for every expert they want to bring on board for analysis, they have to think about funding. Since the person who died is a big shot, the governor allocated extra money to find his killer, which is very exciting for Chief Ferris.

Another thing that was nice to see was that Osborne and Ferris are dating, but their relationship is low-key in the book. It’s mentioned a few times, but they remain totally professional towards each other while working, and their romantic relationship is just an aspect of their characters, not a huge subplot. It’s nice to see a female-led book where the focus is on her solving crimes, not romantic entanglements.

I enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to reading more of the series. I give this one 4 stars.