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A Loon Lake Mystery #11
Dead Deceiver
It's late January in Loon Lake and bodies a woman on snowshoes has been discovered wedged under a wooden bridge on a cross-country ski trail. A day later, Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris interviews a couple who alleges that the wife, a former nun, is being stalked. Meanwhile, Loon Lake is hosting an International Ice Fishing Festival with problems.
243 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2010
121 people are currently reading
542 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Houston
36 books272 followersShe is the author of the Loon Lake Mystery Series -- DEAD ANGLER, DEAD CREEK, DEAD WATER, DEAD FRENZY, DEAD HOT MAMA, DEAD JITTERBUG, DEAD BOOGIE, DEAD MADONNA, DEAD HOT SHOT, DEAD RENEGADE. DEAD DECEIVER, DEAD TEASE, DEAD INSIDER, DEAD HUSTLER, DEAD RAPUNZEL, DEAD LOUDMOUTH, DEAD SPIDER, DEAD FIREFLY, DEAD BIG DAWG and WOLF HOLLOW in hardcover, trade paperback and as an eBook from Simon & Schuster. The mysteries are set in the Northwoods of Wisconsin against a background of fishing – fly fishing as well as fishing for muskie, bass, bluegill and walleyes.
Houston’s mystery series was featured in a story on the front page of The Wall Street Journal (January 20, 2004) and on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation with Neal Conan” (February 2, 2006). Both can be seen/heard on the website: www.victoriahouston.com.
She has also written or co-authored over seven non-fiction books. An award-winning author specializing in family issues, Houston’s non-fiction books include the highly recommended ALONE AFTER SCHOOL: A Self-Care Guide for Latchkey Children and Their Parents (Prentice Hall, 1985); the national bestseller, LOVING A YOUNGER MAN: How Women Are Finding and Enjoying a Better Relationship (Contemporary Books (1987); Pocket Books (1988); MAKING IT WORK: Finding the Time and Energy For Your Career, Marriage, Children and Self (Contemporary Books, 1990) -- which was published by Simon & Schuster's Fireside imprint in August 1991 as a trade paperback titled MAKING IT WORK: Creative Solutions For Balancing Your Career, Marriage, Children And Personal Life. Houston co-authored RESTORE YOURSELF: A Woman’s Guide to Reviving Her Libido and Passion for Life (The Berkley Publishing Group/2001) with Dr. James Simon, a Past President of the North American Menopause Society.
Houston’s mystery series was featured in a story on the front page of The Wall Street Journal (January 20, 2004) and on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation with Neal Conan” (February 2, 2006). Both can be seen/heard on the website: www.victoriahouston.com.
She has also written or co-authored over seven non-fiction books. An award-winning author specializing in family issues, Houston’s non-fiction books include the highly recommended ALONE AFTER SCHOOL: A Self-Care Guide for Latchkey Children and Their Parents (Prentice Hall, 1985); the national bestseller, LOVING A YOUNGER MAN: How Women Are Finding and Enjoying a Better Relationship (Contemporary Books (1987); Pocket Books (1988); MAKING IT WORK: Finding the Time and Energy For Your Career, Marriage, Children and Self (Contemporary Books, 1990) -- which was published by Simon & Schuster's Fireside imprint in August 1991 as a trade paperback titled MAKING IT WORK: Creative Solutions For Balancing Your Career, Marriage, Children And Personal Life. Houston co-authored RESTORE YOURSELF: A Woman’s Guide to Reviving Her Libido and Passion for Life (The Berkley Publishing Group/2001) with Dr. James Simon, a Past President of the North American Menopause Society.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
October 16, 2011
I picked this book up, on a whim, because of the cover. I didn’t note that it's the 11th book in a series, nor did I really read the synopsis. I’m not going to lie, sometimes I’m moved to buy based on the cover alone. I mean it. If you can create a beautiful, enticing cover, you’re going to grab my attention, and I’m probably going to buy. I’m that impulsive. But, that aside… I found, upon reading the novel, and it doesn’t matter that it’s the 11th book in a series, it’s a standalone novel, and the story beats out the synopsis any day, anyway.
I enjoyed this mystery novel. It’s a whodunit style novel with multiple connections among the townsfolk, starting with the disappearance and murder of one of Loon Lake’s own. Though the plot is seemingly disconnected, moving from the murder of a woman to a family being stalked, everything is interrelated. Everything is also spiraling out of control with the massive downfall of snow, covering all the killers tracks, as well as an Ice Fishing Festival, spreading the already waning police force even thinner while a killer is on the loose. This creates much needed suspense within the novel, and though I found some of the novel a tad bit slow, as the story picked up, it became much more interesting and hard to put down.
What I found most interesting about this book, though, is the fact that it really deals with computers and hackers. Though a woman is killed, and though a family is being stalked, the truth behind it all stems from the internet, where much money can be made through scams and the like. How they’re all connected, I can’t say, but I highly enjoyed learning about all the computer technology as well as figuring out the murder/stalker mystery. Though I knew who the murderer was early on in the novel, as most readers probably will, the murderer’s name, location, and motives don’t come out until the climactic end, which helps spur the reader on...
To read my full review (11/8):
http://bookvacations.wordpress.com/20...
I enjoyed this mystery novel. It’s a whodunit style novel with multiple connections among the townsfolk, starting with the disappearance and murder of one of Loon Lake’s own. Though the plot is seemingly disconnected, moving from the murder of a woman to a family being stalked, everything is interrelated. Everything is also spiraling out of control with the massive downfall of snow, covering all the killers tracks, as well as an Ice Fishing Festival, spreading the already waning police force even thinner while a killer is on the loose. This creates much needed suspense within the novel, and though I found some of the novel a tad bit slow, as the story picked up, it became much more interesting and hard to put down.
What I found most interesting about this book, though, is the fact that it really deals with computers and hackers. Though a woman is killed, and though a family is being stalked, the truth behind it all stems from the internet, where much money can be made through scams and the like. How they’re all connected, I can’t say, but I highly enjoyed learning about all the computer technology as well as figuring out the murder/stalker mystery. Though I knew who the murderer was early on in the novel, as most readers probably will, the murderer’s name, location, and motives don’t come out until the climactic end, which helps spur the reader on...
To read my full review (11/8):
http://bookvacations.wordpress.com/20...
January 16, 2016
Dollycas 19s Thoughts
This has been one of my favorites series but the last one, Dead Renegade was not the author 19s best and I left this one on the shelf. When I needed just one more book to complete by Wisconsin Author/Setting I picked it up and I so glad I did. I don 19t know much about fly fishing but I sure do like reading about it. My grandfather was quite a fisherman and stories like this bring forth great memories.
I love Lew, Doc Osborne, and Ray Pradt. In this installment they are fighting the elements of a Wisconsin winter to find who killed a woman out snowshoeing. When she fails to return home her husband calls the police and they start a search that ends with the worst possible outcome.
I like the relaxed relationship between Lew and Osbourne. They are comfortable with each other and the lives they are leading. Lew 19s daughter returns to Loon Lake to talk things over with her mom. Her marriage is falling apart and she needs advice and a little perspective as she moves toward a divorce.
There is also a fishing tournament taking place and a reality show is casting and Ray hopes he is chosen for the show.
Houston is back and while there is not as much fishing in this installment due to it be set in winter the mystery is more of what I expect from this author. The characters are still growing and the were a few suspenseful moments as the plot and subplot converged and the killer was revealed.
The funny thing is that is now December in Wisconsin and we don 19t have any snow. We had a very green Christmas and as I type this it is 45 degrees outside. Reading about the snowy countrysides was great for me and required no shoveling on my part.
This has been one of my favorites series but the last one, Dead Renegade was not the author 19s best and I left this one on the shelf. When I needed just one more book to complete by Wisconsin Author/Setting I picked it up and I so glad I did. I don 19t know much about fly fishing but I sure do like reading about it. My grandfather was quite a fisherman and stories like this bring forth great memories.
I love Lew, Doc Osborne, and Ray Pradt. In this installment they are fighting the elements of a Wisconsin winter to find who killed a woman out snowshoeing. When she fails to return home her husband calls the police and they start a search that ends with the worst possible outcome.
I like the relaxed relationship between Lew and Osbourne. They are comfortable with each other and the lives they are leading. Lew 19s daughter returns to Loon Lake to talk things over with her mom. Her marriage is falling apart and she needs advice and a little perspective as she moves toward a divorce.
There is also a fishing tournament taking place and a reality show is casting and Ray hopes he is chosen for the show.
Houston is back and while there is not as much fishing in this installment due to it be set in winter the mystery is more of what I expect from this author. The characters are still growing and the were a few suspenseful moments as the plot and subplot converged and the killer was revealed.
The funny thing is that is now December in Wisconsin and we don 19t have any snow. We had a very green Christmas and as I type this it is 45 degrees outside. Reading about the snowy countrysides was great for me and required no shoveling on my part.
March 26, 2017
Just when I thought I might have exhausted what I enjoy from Kindle Unlimited (and was saving my last Jefferson Tayte mysteries), I discovered the world of Loon Lake with its colorful but kind citizenry. I find the mysteries just complicated enough to keep me interested and always have sympathy for the poor crime victims. Doc, Ray & Lew are great companions for a rainy weekend of grading papers! (Mild language, no gratuitous descriptions)
Kindle Unlimited, read & listen
Kindle Unlimited, read & listen
August 2, 2022
Dead Deciever by Victoria Houston is another fishy mystery set in Loon Lake, this time in the winter. It's as usual a fast fun read.
December 9, 2018
Very good story. I like how the author added new information to the back stories of the characters.
January 9, 2015
Dollycas’s Thoughts
This has been one of my favorites series but the last one, Dead Renegade was not the author’s best and I left this one on the shelf. When I needed just one more book to complete by Wisconsin Author/Setting I picked it up and I so glad I did. I don’t know much about fly fishing but I sure do like reading about it. My grandfather was quite a fisherman and stories like this bring forth great memories.
I love Lew, Doc Osborne, and Ray Pradt. In this installment they are fighting the elements of a Wisconsin winter to find who killed a woman out snowshoeing. When she fails to return home her husband calls the police and they start a search that ends with the worst possible outcome.
I like the relaxed relationship between Lew and Osbourne. They are comfortable with each other and the lives they are leading. Lew’s daughter returns to Loon Lake to talk things over with her mom. Her marriage is falling apart and she needs advice and a little perspective as she moves toward a divorce.
There is also a fishing tournament taking place and a reality show is casting and Ray hopes he is chosen for the show.
Houston is back and while there is not as much fishing in this installment due to it be set in winter the mystery is more of what I expect from this author. The characters are still growing and the were a few suspenseful moments as the plot and subplot converged and the killer was revealed.
The funny thing is that is now December in Wisconsin and we don’t have any snow. We had a very green Christmas and as I type this it is 45 degrees outside. Reading about the snowy countrysides was great for me and required no shoveling on my part.
This has been one of my favorites series but the last one, Dead Renegade was not the author’s best and I left this one on the shelf. When I needed just one more book to complete by Wisconsin Author/Setting I picked it up and I so glad I did. I don’t know much about fly fishing but I sure do like reading about it. My grandfather was quite a fisherman and stories like this bring forth great memories.
I love Lew, Doc Osborne, and Ray Pradt. In this installment they are fighting the elements of a Wisconsin winter to find who killed a woman out snowshoeing. When she fails to return home her husband calls the police and they start a search that ends with the worst possible outcome.
I like the relaxed relationship between Lew and Osbourne. They are comfortable with each other and the lives they are leading. Lew’s daughter returns to Loon Lake to talk things over with her mom. Her marriage is falling apart and she needs advice and a little perspective as she moves toward a divorce.
There is also a fishing tournament taking place and a reality show is casting and Ray hopes he is chosen for the show.
Houston is back and while there is not as much fishing in this installment due to it be set in winter the mystery is more of what I expect from this author. The characters are still growing and the were a few suspenseful moments as the plot and subplot converged and the killer was revealed.
The funny thing is that is now December in Wisconsin and we don’t have any snow. We had a very green Christmas and as I type this it is 45 degrees outside. Reading about the snowy countrysides was great for me and required no shoveling on my part.
June 5, 2011
Victoria Houston's Loon Lake mystery series is proof positive that a person need have nothing in common with the characters or setting to enjoy the books. I am not a dentist like the protagonist, nor do I enjoy fishing (just eating the catch!) Nonetheless, I have enjoyed spending time with these folks for years as they keep their small Wisconsin town safe from the razzbonyas. (Is that really a word outside of these books? If not, it should be.) Her strength lies in the memorable characters she creates - especially Ray.
This was not the strongest in collection, but still quite enjoyable. I finished it in a day, and now must wait until next year for my next Loon Lake vacation. Wah!
This was not the strongest in collection, but still quite enjoyable. I finished it in a day, and now must wait until next year for my next Loon Lake vacation. Wah!
October 12, 2014
Kathy Beltner starts out alone to do a multi-mile snowshoe hike on a park trail only hours before dark, with snow falling and her cell phone left behind in her car. When she lets her mind wander to personal problems and gets off the main trail, she decides to play Daniel Boone through the woods instead of backtracking her steps to the known trail. And then the consequences of all these poor choices rain down on her head. She comes upon a well-lit, homey cabin occupied by a grisly bearded squatter and takes a .357 gunshot to her face.
When Chief of Police Lew Ferris wakes up that same day, all she has on her plate is an international ice fishing competition that is bringing in a spate of spectators and multiple television crews. By the time she goes to bed that night, she still has the ice fishing competition but she also has a murder, a stalker, and multiple cases of identity theft associated with someone hacking into the local tech college’s network.
Victoria Houston writes marvelous murder mysteries in the cozy genre. She has created realistic protagonists in Doc Osborne, Lew Ferris and Ray Pradt. They are characters who are qualified to investigate crimes, not the cupcake bakers or the quilting mavens or the bridge club members that many authors try to foist off on the reader. These are decent people, with integrity and intelligence. And they are believable in both their actions and their emotions.
So, if her mysteries are so well constructed with protagonists who are not only believable but feel like friends, why would I rate this work with only 2 stars? Because Houston chooses to insult her readers by being free and loose with the laws of physics and by being even freer and looser with the details of her main character’s backstories.
And the discrepancies in both categories are blatantly noticeable. First, in this 11th book of the series, Houston tells the reader, in one of the recaps near the beginning of the story, that Doc met Lew and took his first fly-fishing lesson from her while she was still a patrol officer. Now, go back to the very first book, Dead Angler, where we meet Doc and Lew for the first time, in present tense and in real time. You will find that when they meet, Lew is not a patrol officer but Chief of Police and has been for some time.
Second, in this 11th book of the series, Houston tells us, again in recap, that Doc’s wife has been dead for only two years. Now go back to the first book in the series again and Mary Lee has already been dead more than two years when we read the very first page. And this current book cannot be considered a prequel under any condition as Houston clearly references other events that have occurred in the intervening books, events that transpired at least four to five years after Mary Lee’s death.
But the third discrepancy topped it all. Houston tries to convince the reader that a highly trained scene investigator will accept an explanation that a power surge can physically turn on devices that have been cut off before the surge occurred. Now, it is true that a device that is in standby mode before a power failure will turn on when power is restored, but that is because the device has not actually been turned off to start with. However, that is not what Houston describes in her storyline. What she seems to want the reader to believe is that the cabin with all the lights on, lights that shouldn’t be on since the owner is gone for the winter, is that well-lit cabin where Kathy Beltner was murdered. Great red herring, but really bad execution of the idea.
Houston has included these discrepancies in backstory and mechanics so many times, that, at this point, I will no longer pay good money, beyond that of the tax dollars that support my local library, to read one of her books. I simply will not pay to have my intelligence as a mystery reader insulted by an author who apparently doesn’t believe that a reader can catch the fact that the detailed recaps of backstory don’t match from novel to novel.
While Houston may only put out a new book once a year, readers have good memories for the series that they like and they know when characterizations get skewed and timelines get re-invented. And a reader who has just discovered a series, a reader who is devouring several books of that series a month in order to catch up, will definitely notice the absence of timeline correlation from book to book and within each book.
Yet Houston does so many things well in her books, like systematic and realistic plots as well as realistic protagonists. And that makes it an absolute shame when she scuttles the effort with such obvious inconsistencies in backstories and downright inaccuracies concerning mechanics and electricity.
Because of the multiple points of view presented through various characters, Houston lets the reader know far more about the villain and the crimes than she allows any of the protagonists to know individually. So having identified the “who,” we get to sit back, question the “why,” and experience our protagonists putting it all together. The story may not be a heart-pounding, lose sleep type of thriller but it is an intriguing puzzle, nevertheless. Thus, it serves a purpose for the dedicated mystery reader – it helps to cleanse the palate, so to speak, after a particularly intense mainstream thriller from the likes of Baldacci, Child and Deaver.
So, even if Houston builds each book on the shifting sands of faulty historical memory and bad physics, I will continue to read abut Doc, Lew and Ray – albeit from a library book from now on. These characters are a breath of fresh air after a chilling serial killer mystery. But I will continue to call out the author every time she turns a potential 5-star read into a brain-jarring experience simply because she has apparently not yet accepted that the devil of success is truly in the details.
When Chief of Police Lew Ferris wakes up that same day, all she has on her plate is an international ice fishing competition that is bringing in a spate of spectators and multiple television crews. By the time she goes to bed that night, she still has the ice fishing competition but she also has a murder, a stalker, and multiple cases of identity theft associated with someone hacking into the local tech college’s network.
Victoria Houston writes marvelous murder mysteries in the cozy genre. She has created realistic protagonists in Doc Osborne, Lew Ferris and Ray Pradt. They are characters who are qualified to investigate crimes, not the cupcake bakers or the quilting mavens or the bridge club members that many authors try to foist off on the reader. These are decent people, with integrity and intelligence. And they are believable in both their actions and their emotions.
So, if her mysteries are so well constructed with protagonists who are not only believable but feel like friends, why would I rate this work with only 2 stars? Because Houston chooses to insult her readers by being free and loose with the laws of physics and by being even freer and looser with the details of her main character’s backstories.
And the discrepancies in both categories are blatantly noticeable. First, in this 11th book of the series, Houston tells the reader, in one of the recaps near the beginning of the story, that Doc met Lew and took his first fly-fishing lesson from her while she was still a patrol officer. Now, go back to the very first book, Dead Angler, where we meet Doc and Lew for the first time, in present tense and in real time. You will find that when they meet, Lew is not a patrol officer but Chief of Police and has been for some time.
Second, in this 11th book of the series, Houston tells us, again in recap, that Doc’s wife has been dead for only two years. Now go back to the first book in the series again and Mary Lee has already been dead more than two years when we read the very first page. And this current book cannot be considered a prequel under any condition as Houston clearly references other events that have occurred in the intervening books, events that transpired at least four to five years after Mary Lee’s death.
But the third discrepancy topped it all. Houston tries to convince the reader that a highly trained scene investigator will accept an explanation that a power surge can physically turn on devices that have been cut off before the surge occurred. Now, it is true that a device that is in standby mode before a power failure will turn on when power is restored, but that is because the device has not actually been turned off to start with. However, that is not what Houston describes in her storyline. What she seems to want the reader to believe is that the cabin with all the lights on, lights that shouldn’t be on since the owner is gone for the winter, is that well-lit cabin where Kathy Beltner was murdered. Great red herring, but really bad execution of the idea.
Houston has included these discrepancies in backstory and mechanics so many times, that, at this point, I will no longer pay good money, beyond that of the tax dollars that support my local library, to read one of her books. I simply will not pay to have my intelligence as a mystery reader insulted by an author who apparently doesn’t believe that a reader can catch the fact that the detailed recaps of backstory don’t match from novel to novel.
While Houston may only put out a new book once a year, readers have good memories for the series that they like and they know when characterizations get skewed and timelines get re-invented. And a reader who has just discovered a series, a reader who is devouring several books of that series a month in order to catch up, will definitely notice the absence of timeline correlation from book to book and within each book.
Yet Houston does so many things well in her books, like systematic and realistic plots as well as realistic protagonists. And that makes it an absolute shame when she scuttles the effort with such obvious inconsistencies in backstories and downright inaccuracies concerning mechanics and electricity.
Because of the multiple points of view presented through various characters, Houston lets the reader know far more about the villain and the crimes than she allows any of the protagonists to know individually. So having identified the “who,” we get to sit back, question the “why,” and experience our protagonists putting it all together. The story may not be a heart-pounding, lose sleep type of thriller but it is an intriguing puzzle, nevertheless. Thus, it serves a purpose for the dedicated mystery reader – it helps to cleanse the palate, so to speak, after a particularly intense mainstream thriller from the likes of Baldacci, Child and Deaver.
So, even if Houston builds each book on the shifting sands of faulty historical memory and bad physics, I will continue to read abut Doc, Lew and Ray – albeit from a library book from now on. These characters are a breath of fresh air after a chilling serial killer mystery. But I will continue to call out the author every time she turns a potential 5-star read into a brain-jarring experience simply because she has apparently not yet accepted that the devil of success is truly in the details.
April 18, 2021
Someone is hacking into the Technical College's computers & sending out scam e-mails to the students & other colleges using the College President's e-mails. Sometimes at night after school hours, sometimes from her home.
Her husband is a conman, 3 divorces with financial abuse, the last one two days after this current marriage.
A woman who lost her way while snowshoeing is shot in the face & her body dumped. Ray & Doc Osborne find one of her snowshoes. The 90 year old hermit finds her other snowshoe and is murdered for it....
**************Semi-SPOILER****************
Lew chases after the murderer, but instead of her blowing his brains out or the FBI doing him Bonnie & Clyde style, he still gets off easy
*****************************************
More fishing goings on, which I mostly skimmed over.
Her husband is a conman, 3 divorces with financial abuse, the last one two days after this current marriage.
A woman who lost her way while snowshoeing is shot in the face & her body dumped. Ray & Doc Osborne find one of her snowshoes. The 90 year old hermit finds her other snowshoe and is murdered for it....
**************Semi-SPOILER****************
Lew chases after the murderer, but instead of her blowing his brains out or the FBI doing him Bonnie & Clyde style, he still gets off easy
*****************************************
More fishing goings on, which I mostly skimmed over.
April 3, 2025
This series got off to a great start - the characters were likeable, the settings were enjoyable, the circumstances were believable. But as I read more and more of the series, little things started bugging me - time had passed, but characters didn't age... tiny stuff like that - It was almost as if Victoria Houston had contracted other writers to keep the stories going, and they didn't do their homework... or follow the style book... As I was reading these recovering from an illness, I was reading them one right after the other, so those inconsistencies would be more apparent....just my two cents.
October 17, 2020
Ugh, another plodding installment in the Loon Lake mystery series. The plots just get thinner and thinner and the characters stay the exact same. I read these only because my mom does and passes them along. They are easy, quick reads and allow you to quickly escape to the Wisconsin Northwoods. I just wish the stories weren't so bad.
Read if you like Wisconsin Northwoods or are a big fan of fishing, especially fly fishing, because this is the one are of the stores that usually shines.
Read if you like Wisconsin Northwoods or are a big fan of fishing, especially fly fishing, because this is the one are of the stores that usually shines.
January 16, 2018
The story was better, but for the first half of the book, it seemed that that characters didn't behave in character. Also, the formatting of the ebook was terrible. There were so many and so few quotation marks that I half the time, I couldn't tell who was saying what. I'm going to give this series one more chance, but that's it.
November 1, 2017
A most excellent 5 star read! I don't fish, I don't live in WI but, I do live in MN and I've spent most of my summers "up nort" so I love the feel of these books, the language and mostly the characters!
December 9, 2017
Another clever mystery with my favorite characters; Doc,Lew and Ray. In this episode as in all the books in this series, a few new people enter the Loon Lake Community. Who are the good ones and who are the evil ones? A touch of humor helps you with these endearing characters.kindle Unlimited
August 17, 2022
A woman disappears going home and her body is discovered under a bridge. This along with some other problems keep Chief Ferris and Dr. Osborne busy. Meanwhile an Ice Fishing Competition is going on.
Another great story in this series.
Another great story in this series.
December 18, 2022
Compelling
This mystery and crime includes humor which kept me reading. Can't put the story down. Excellent again. Can't wait to read ext in series. Lew and Doc are a great couple. Ray is a hoot!!
This mystery and crime includes humor which kept me reading. Can't put the story down. Excellent again. Can't wait to read ext in series. Lew and Doc are a great couple. Ray is a hoot!!
May 8, 2017
You can always count on Victoria Houston to deliver a fun, satisfying mystery with characters it's basically impossible not to like, and this book is no exception.
June 30, 2017
I've become attached to the characters even though the plot lines aren't riveting. Just picked up another and I'm not going in order. Good, fast summer reads.
March 27, 2019
enjoy the series and the narration
December 15, 2019
they all blend together - ice fishig
February 19, 2020
Loved it
October 11, 2022
Easy reading. Amusing, somewhat predictable. Fun setting in the northwoods with it’s associated culture. Lots of fishing.
May 12, 2023
3.5 - another good book in the series, although the mystery was pretty obvious.
June 18, 2023
Forgot to enter this, read it earlier. Another good mystery.
November 13, 2024
another great book in this series, liked the twist the story took...
January 17, 2025
Another great mystery from Loon Lake! Love this series!
July 31, 2025
Twin solution. Trite, but nice escapism.
October 12, 2018
My favorite type of book to read is a murder mystery and I was hopeful after reading the synopsis. It started off pretty good, but began to unravel after just a few chapters. There are way too many characters that are unnecessary making the story cluttered and cumbersome. The story shifts to computer crimes and the same type of sentence starts to repeat every few paragraphs, the hackers are spamming your system, the students are clicking on the links, the spammers are making millions of dollars, etc. The bad guys are obviously bad as soon as we meet them and the good guys are obviously good, it's very black and white and eliminates the sense of mystery. The entire premise of the story seems very surface and not well developed.
August 5, 2011
brand new-to-me author - picked up the book on Amazon Kindle this week and immediately dove into it.
I like the characters - middle-aged police chief Lew and her retired dentist "boyfriend/deputy". Nice change from the usual grizzled cops. It takes place during the winter in Wisconsin - a snow-shoer is murdered and found on a hiking trail. As they begin to investigate, a wealthy resident reports a possible stalking, which stretches the small police department thin, just as they are preparing security for an ice fishing tournament.
The story flows well, and I didn't get an inkling of "who done it" until almost the end of the book. After reading other reviews, I see this is part of a series, which means I need to find the rest of the books!
I like the characters - middle-aged police chief Lew and her retired dentist "boyfriend/deputy". Nice change from the usual grizzled cops. It takes place during the winter in Wisconsin - a snow-shoer is murdered and found on a hiking trail. As they begin to investigate, a wealthy resident reports a possible stalking, which stretches the small police department thin, just as they are preparing security for an ice fishing tournament.
The story flows well, and I didn't get an inkling of "who done it" until almost the end of the book. After reading other reviews, I see this is part of a series, which means I need to find the rest of the books!
August 6, 2011
Ms Houston presents a wonderful picture of the Wisconsin Lake country in the winter. She creates an atmosphere in which the reader can feel the chill of the atmosphere that the characters are in.
She creates a modern story that has you learning much about cyber crime as the characters. Her characters are real and they engage you into their lives and concerns. The story is one of a continuing series but has just enough back story to give the characters depth with out bogging you down in details or leaving you wondering what went before. It can be read as a stand alone or in the series with equal ease and enjoyment.
She creates a modern story that has you learning much about cyber crime as the characters. Her characters are real and they engage you into their lives and concerns. The story is one of a continuing series but has just enough back story to give the characters depth with out bogging you down in details or leaving you wondering what went before. It can be read as a stand alone or in the series with equal ease and enjoyment.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews