Riverwatcher: A Fly-Fishing Mystery

The shotgun slaying of Charlie Orr, whose body is found in a campsite tent near the river where he loved to fish, propels Weber’s effortlessly charming third mystery set on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (after Catch and Keep). Mercy Virdon, a supervisor in Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources, investigates, aided by her journalist lover, Donal Fitzgerald, supposedly on leave from the Detroit Free Press to write a novel, but actually addicted to fly-fishing himself. Several sharply drawn local characters try to figure out not so much who the murderer is but why anyone would harm an inoffensive old guy like Charlie. Intelligent detective work and quiet humor more than make up for the somewhat contrived solution. Readers with some fly-fishing background will get more out of the book, but even those who can’t tell a Royal Coachman from a Wooly Bugger will have fun. (June)