BAD MOON RISING

4 stars out of 5

It almost seems contradictory to say this is a good book when there's not a single character I'd ever want to meet or a location that makes me want to be there even if I'm just passing through. After watching all the characters sweat their way through gruesome murders, investigations meandering through muddy streams, bug-infested woods and temperatures hot enough to grill steaks on the pavement, I said a prayer of thanks for the air conditioning that was keeping me cool while I read.

That said, the style in which it's written makes for a bit of a tough go figuring out what's going on here, but once it began to come together in my head, the whole thing was full of action, twists and turns and on the whole a real page-turner. Bad Axe County (Wisconsin) Sheriff Heidi Kick, who's in the midst of a down-and-dirty reelection campaign, is called in when a dead body is found (this is, BTW, the third in the author's Bad Axe County series). Heidi's friend, former editor-in-chief of the local newspaper that's just been bought out by the mother of the guy running against her, thinks the dead guy might somehow be connected to an anonymous person who's been sending dire (and irrational) doomsday warnings to the paper. Unbeknownst to Heidi, he sets off on his own to ferret out the truth despite health issues that threaten to sideline him (or worse) at any given minute.

Meanwhile, Heidi's personal life is less than ideal; her loving husband, Harley, is a local baseball superstar who's away at a tournament - leaving her alone with twin sons Taylor and Dylan, one of whom has serious emotional issues, a daughter who's away at some kind of camp and a mother-in-law from you-know-where. On top of trying to do her job in the unyielding heat, she has to deal with near-threats from the man who's looking to replace her.

There's no way to describe the directions the investigation, political race and Heidi's personal life will go - it's way too complicated - so you'll just have to read the book to find out how it all comes out (and together) in the end. I'm glad I read it - and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy. Beyond that, I'm still breathing a (cool) sigh that I don't live anywhere near this part of the country. Whew!

Bad Moon Rising by John Galligan (Atria Books, June 2021); 334 pp.