Cold Hunter's Moon

by K.C. Greenlief

On a cold, snowy November day in Big Oak, Wisconsin, Ann Ranson's dogs drag home something bloody. In the height of hunting season, Ann assumes it's a deer part and goes out to get rid of it. Instead, she is shocked to discover it's the remains of a human foot!

Sheriff Lark Swenson, a former homicide detective from Chicago who recently moved to the country after his wife's death, begins to investigate. When a second body is found, the state police join in the case. State Detective Lacey Smith works very closely with Sheriff Swenson, and the two of them find themselves battling their mutual attraction, as well as hunting down a cold-blooded killer.

While the police try to find out who's been killing young female students from the university, someone starts shooting at Ann Ranson and the sheriff. Lark and Lacey need to find the killer before someone else winds up dead!

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2002

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I somehow ended up with this in my "own" collection. Had to be because I inherited a book collection or I was blinded by the Wisconsin connection. Either way, I just wasted three days of reading that I could have spent on a worthy book. Good grief. What a pant-load of hooey; a pile of cornball.

Even the dogs and locations can't save this book; however, these are only reasons I'll give the book one star. The dialog is awful; the characters are so cookie cutter (every man is either so gorgeous or hideous and the young women are beautiful while the older women are lusting after the gorgeous men); the author made one of the middle-aged female characters deliver one liners that are terrible. Bad, very bad. The reveal at the end is ridiculous.

Do not bother with this book.

[Parker]

it was good. pretty basic plot but the dual point of views (ish? i guess) make it more creative. also well written. i was thrilled to find out theres a sequel because i DESPARATELY want to know what happens with Lark and Lacey! such a twist at the end, i thought i had the killer figured out but....man. just strap yourself in, i guess.

[Molly Wiste · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started slow, otherwise I would have given it more stars. It took me awhile to feel connected with the characters, but a ways in I was more invested and found myself wanting to know what would happen.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A library find. August 2024.
Action packed.
Interesting characters.
Intriguing plot.
Well written.
Hard to put down.

[Carin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now, I'm not normally a mystery reader, but I have read the classics (Christie, Collins, Conan Doyle) so I wasn't completely unfamiliar with myseries when I came across this manuscript. The characters completely compelled me from the very beginning, and when I got to the end of the partial pages the author had submitted, I was miffed that I couldn't continue, and I waited anxiously for the remainder. It was a fun read, set in a part of the country that seems quite foreign to me (the author explained to me that in the winter in Wisconsin, you have to shovel your roof or the weight of the snow can get to be too much and compromise the inegrity of your house's structure, crazy!) I enjoyed reading it, editing it, and was happy to see it get good reviews when it came out.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ransons are newcomers to Wisconsin. When their dogs find a boot with human bones in it, the local sheriff, Lark Swenson, also a newcomer and overwhelmed by the influx of deer hunters for the hunting season, finds skeletal remains, and also a fresh corpse. How did two co-eds from the University of Wisconsin end up dead in the woods? There's instant chemistry between the sheriff and one of the state police officers, Lacey Smith, who comes to help him out, but he's still mourning his wife and convinced that he's too old for Lacey. There's endless tromping through snow and bad weather before the killer strikes again--but this time, Lark knows who is guilty.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

1st in the Sheriff Lark Swenson - State Detective Lacey Smith mystery series set in northern Wisconsin. It is November and Big Oak Town is having a series of heavy winter storms along with the deer hunting season. The sheriff's office has its hands full with hunting related accidents and traffic accidents when 2 bodies are discovered on the property of neighbors of the sheriff. Swenson brings in the state police to help investiage. Things intensify as both the neighbor and Swenson's homes are shot at.

Good mystery with interesting subplots involving the Swenson-Smith relationship, the neighbor's wife and a local family with an alcoholic father and son.