Sheriff Heidi Kick and her understaffed team in Bad Axe County, Wisconsin have more troubles than any small force should have to handle. In John Galligan’s Bad Moon Rising, they have a larger cast of bizarre characters than any book should have to handle.

“Kick Her Out.” “Barry Her.” Barry Rickreiner, Heidi Kick’s opponent in the sheriff’s race, has campaign signs all over Bad Axe County, even stuck in Kick’s yard. She sees them as she’s patrolling. Unfortunately, her seven-year-old twin boys see them, too, and one of them is acting out. Townspeople are noticing, but Taylor’s behavior is the least of Kick’s worries right now.

The county’s in the middle of a heat wave, with temperatures up to 106 degrees. Deputies are doing welfare checks, finding some of the elderly residents dead. Kick doesn’t trust her appointed Interim Deputy Sheriff. She has an eager rookie, but doesn’t know if the young woman can cope with bodies. There’s a demanding priest calling from out-of-town, complaining that homeless men are disappearing, and he suspects the latest corpse in Bad Axe County might be one of them. Leroy “Grape” Fanta, a beloved local newspaperman has been fired by Barry Rickreimer’s mother, who turns the local paper into a grocery flyer. Fanta doesn’t take it well, breaking into the office, and listening to odd messages from a rabid environmentalist who rants and spouts poetry.

Sheriff Kick’s problems only get worse when she stumbles on an odd scene at what appears to be an Amish farm. How weirder can it get than the discovery of an elderly bearded man stabbed with a spear in an outhouse, and a young woman who disappears while Heidi calls for an ambulance? That scene only kicks off a bizarre investigation compounded when Fanta, the newspaperman, disappears.

I don’t know when I’ve seen such a bizarre collection of characters in a novel, beginning with Heidi Kick’s family, including an angry mother-in-law. As the story turns violent and ugly, the cast is equally ugly at times. One bizarre character in a crime novel is usually enough. This one is over-the-top.

Bad Moon Rising is a grim, atmospheric novel. With all that happens to the Bad Axe County sheriff’s department in this book, I hope they get a break in the next one. I doubt, though, that their luck will improve.

John Galligan’s website is https://www.johngalligan.com/

Bad Moon Rising by John Galligan. Atria, 2021. ISBN 9781982166533 (paperback), 336p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a .PDF to review for a journal.