Book Review: Dead Creek

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Dead Creek     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Victoria Houston
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural
Series: Loon Lake Fishing Mysteries # 2
Berkley, Nov 2000, $5.99, 288 pp.

Just about every one of the 4000 residents of Lake Loon knows that retired dentist, Doctor Osborne loves to take his boat out and go fishing. He especially enjoys catching muskie, a Wisconsin delicacy. Just about the only thing, the sexagenarian loves more than fishing, is helping Chief of Police Lew Ferris solve crime. Perhaps he just has a crush on his favorite law enforcement official.

He is unaware that when he has the chance to catch some muskie in an isolated locale, he will soon be working with his favorite police officer. In a small inlet of the lake, Osborne finds a wired cage containing the bodies of four adults. No one knows who the victims are except that they are wealthy out-of-towners who disappeared form an upscale retreat. Lew and Osborne will need three parts perseverance and seven parts luck to solve this impossible case.

People who enjoy fishing will want to read DEAD CREEK, but those fans of a well-drawn regional police procedural will also want to read this novel. All the subplots smoothly return to the main theme and there are plenty of suspects to keep the audience guessing about what is going on and who is the mastermind behind the mysterious events. With this fine novel, Victoria Houston will hook readers and make them seek her previous stories.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner