Death Casts a Shadow is the seventh and final book in Patricia Skalka’s excellent Dave Cubiak Door County mystery series. Her notes at the end of the book say she completed the arc she had planned for Dave Cubiak. She took him from a broken man through almost twenty years of life changes and his career as sheriff in Door County, Wisconsin. She made readers care about the man, his investigations, and the beautiful, sometimes wild county he calls home. And, she wrapped up his story so that readers will be satisfied and content.
It all started as a simple favor for his wife, Cate. She asked him to check on a wealthy widow, Lydia Malcaster, after the grande dame of the county, Regina Malcaster, expressed concern about her nephew’s widow. Regina worries the new man in sixty-four-year-old Lydia’s life might be playing her for her money. When Cubiak visits her, Lydia seems a little giddy about her new romance, but she brushes it off, saying Regina is overprotective. The sheriff can accept that, until Lydia is found dead at the foot of her stairs, clutching a Frederic Remington bronze.
Dave hopes to pick up some gossip at his Friday morning breakfast at the local diner, but no one there is talking about Lydia. So, he heads to the club where he’s to make a speech, only to arrive in time to see an ice fishing hut explode into flames. When he learns there was a man inside, he’s shocked to recognize Bobby Fells’ name. Fells was the man who plowed snow for Lydia Malcaster. And, Dave Cubiak doesn’t believe in coincidences.
Although Cubiak has lived in Door County for almost twenty years, he’s considered a newcomer. He doesn’t have the history and connections that his wife, Cate, does. And, all those connections and the history of the families in the county are important if he’s going to solve the investigations that seem linked.
It’s family loss that originally sent Dave Cubiak to Door County. Now, Skalka wraps up the series with a story of family. She incorporates art and nature and internet scams into the story, but, at its heart, the mystery is still about family. It’s an excellent way to wrap up a superb series.
I seldom do this, but because this series is ending, I want to make a recommendation. If you like Claire Booth’s Hank Worth series featuring the sheriff in Branson, Missouri, check this series out. It’s seven books worth reading if you enjoy police procedurals with a sheriff who cares about people and his community.
Patricia Skalka’s website is http://www.patriciaskalka.com/
Death Casts a Shadow by Patricia Skalka. University of Wisconsin Press, 2022. ISBN 9780299338701 (hardcover), 228p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I bought my copy of the book.
