Dead Renegade (Loon Lake Fishing Mysteries)
Houston's tepid 10th mystery set near one of Wisconsin's Loon Lakes (after 2008's Dead Hot Shot) works better as a portrait of small-town life than as a whodunit. Dr. Paul Osborne, now retired from his dental practice, assists the Loon Lake police department, headed by his girlfriend, Lew Ferris. Osborne's chance presence at a local antique emporium leads him to a grisly discovery of a human skull concealed in a rug. The investigation into whom the skull belonged to and the cause of death ends up taking a back seat after Osborne's granddaughter is frightened by something she's reluctant to talk about. Another plot line involves the young wife of an abusive businessman, who's stiffed some locals who did logging work for him. Unfortunately, the characters aren't sufficiently interesting to compensate for the slow pacing and the pedestrian plot line.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.