Victoria Houston’s recent books are more satisfying for those who enjoy the outdoors and reading about the tranquility of fly-fishing than they are for those of us who enjoy a satisfying mystery. In the latest book, At the Edge of the Woods, Sheriff Lew Ferris seems a little too abrupt, in too much of a hurry, as she investigates a suspicious death.

After serving as Chief of the Loon Lake Police Dept. for fifteen years, Lewellyn Ferris was elected sheriff in McBride County, the Wisconsin county in the Northwoods. When a dentist and avid pickleball player is shot and killed on the courts one morning, everyone jumps to guess that the obnoxious man was murdered. Lew is reluctant to call it murder because she’s seen too many accidental deaths involving guns. She hears lots of gossip, including stories of his wife, but nothing to point to a killer.

However, when there’s a second shooting and the death of a second pickleball player, Lew tries to put the pieces together. This time, there’s a witness who saw someone running with a gun, and the victim was shot twice. One death might have been an accident, but two of them?

As I said, the mystery actually takes second place to the accounts of fly-fishing, muskie fishing, and banding grouse. I found the actual solutions to be mundane, but that may have been just me. Fans of the two series featuring Lew Ferris may enjoy At the Edge of the Woods.

Victoria Houston’s website is https://www.victoriahouston.com/

At the Edge of the Woods by Victoria Houston. Crooked Lane Books, 2024. ISBN 9781639106530 (hardcover), 256p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley through NetGalley to review for a journal.