Inspector Hillary Casgrain had fought her way through the system to get where she was. Now, after past tragedy, she made the decision to settle down in Elk Ridge, a smallish tourist town, where she will eventually retire in 10 years or so. And where the most excitement would come from writing traffic tickets. It's just her luck that the first face she sees is Sargent "Goat" Rundle, a man from her past life who dislikes her as much as she dislikes him. She sees him as lazy and ineffectual. He sees her as demanding, autocratic, pushy and shrill. Changes start on her first day in Elk Ridge. Hillary and Goat find the body of a young blond woman hanging from a tree. She's wearing a wedding gown. From there, Hillary finds herself with more trouble than she ever anticipated. A serial killer, hate crimes, porch pirates, a Sargent who doesn't believe she has what it takes to work with his little police force, and a small team of constables who are willing to learn, but are out of their depth when dealing with murder. I've read all the Port Alma and the Poodle Versus series, and I was excited to read this new series. Inspector Casgrain has to pretty much retrain herself in how to react to her new team, including Goat Rundle. She is going to have to make all of them believe that they want to trust her and follow her lead, which is quite a challenge for her. I typically judge how much I like a book by how quickly I want to finish it. If I start reading and don't want to put it down until I get to the last page, the book is a success for me. I only put this book aside when I had to - I really wanted to find out what happened. To me, the Hangman took a backseat for me. I wanted to find out how Hillary would ultimately connect with Sargent Rundle and the rest of her new team. Without a close connection, they may not have been able to solve any of the crimes occurring in Elk Ridge. I really liked this first book in this new series. It is another Anne Shillolo series I will look forward to reading. I received this book as an ARC and this is my honest opinion.