cover image Walleye Junction

Walleye Junction

Karin Salvalaggio. Minotaur, $25.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-250-07892-6

The kidnapping and murder of controversial radio personality Philip Long kick starts Salvalaggio’s highly suspenseful third mystery featuring Det. Macy Greeley (after 2015’s Burnt River). Macy heads to remote Walleye Junction, Mont., to handle the investigation, which may be related to Long’s broadcasts on the rise of area militias. Kidnappers Carla and Lloyd Spencer are soon found dead of a heroin overdose, while Carla’s troubled teenage son, Sean, goes missing. Macy follows a trail of local secrets and anonymous emails that point to a series of prescription painkiller abuses. Meanwhile, Long’s daughter, Emma, returns to Walleye, having left 12 years before, when her best friend died from an overdose. Pulled back into a morass of gossip and bigotry, Emma tries to repair the relationship with her estranged mother, Francine, while finding herself drawn to the killers’ antidrug nephew, Kyle Miller. Precise character studies, a perceptive look at small towns, and realistic twists all add up to a winner. Agent: Felicity Blunt, Curtis Brown. (May)