Dead Spider

Houston’s neatly crafted 17th Loon Lake mystery (after 2016’s Dead Loudmouth) offers plenty of Midwestern charm. On the last day of the Loon Lake Youth Fishing Tournament, someone sidles up to sporting goods mogul Chuck Pfeiffer, whose company launched the annual tournament years before, and puts a bullet in his brain. The Loon Lake police department may be small, but Pfeiffer was a popular figure in Wisconsin, so the state is willing to pay for any expert technical help that police chief Lewellyn Ferris needs to solve his murder. The investigation takes a back seat for retired dentist and deputy coroner Paul “Doc” Osborne, Lew’s boyfriend, when his 15-year-old granddaughter goes missing. Houston cleverly interweaves two seemingly unrelated mysteries that come together in the end. Series falls will feel like they’re returning home to Loon Lake to do a little fishing with Lew and Doc and all their friends and neighbors. Agent: Martha Millard, Sterling Lord Literistic. (June)