DEAD MADONNA

Also read Heather Lee Schroeder's Review of Dead Madonna:
"ANOTHER GOOD TALE OF LOON LAKE"

From BOOKLIST:

"Loon Lake is a typically sleepy Wisconsin resort town--except for its per-capita homicide rate, which rivals that of Baghdad. A young woman is found dead beneath a wealthy vacationer's houseboat, and another local is discovered bludgeoned to death in her living room. Police Chief Lewellyn "Lew" Ferris is hard pressed to investigate both with her limited staff, and enlists Doc Osborne, her sometime lover, retired dentist, ad-hoc coroner, and occasional deputy, to help solve the apparently unrelated deaths. With the local citizenry chipping in as needed, Lew and Doc soon have a dozen looted bank accounts as a possible motive and a pair of slick strangers who may provide a thread to connect the killings. Fans of small-town mysteries--such as Bill Crider's Texas-based Dan Rhodes capers--will find the eighth entry in the Loon Lake series a likable change of pace from some of the more grisly whodunits populating the best-seller lists. Houston populates her little burg with two engaging protagonists and a steady stream of mildly eccentric townies as she leisurely moves a clever plot toward a suspenseful and satisfying conclusion." --Review by Wes Lukowsky

From the ORLANDO SENTINEL, "BOOKS NEW THRILLER":

There's a question in the waters: How did those bodies get there?

Reviewed By Ann Hellmuth Sentinel Staff Writer

June 10, 2007

Some of my favorite books as a child were about four Scottish children whose love of fly-fishing resulted in endless adventures, often involving German spies. There was something about descriptions of standing in streams and lakes and hooking fish that never lost their fascination.

So it was like a trip down memory lane when I discovered Victoria Houston's Lake Loon mystery series. Although the setting is Wisconsin and not the Scottish Highlands, her books cast the same mesmerizing charm as those long-ago adventure stories.

Houston has hit gold with the creation of Lake Loon Police Chief Lew Ferris; her boyfriend and retired dentist Doc Osborne, who also is the town's coroner; and Ray Pradt, a free spirit and expert fisherman who spends his days searching for walleye, muskie, crappie and bluegills.

This time out, Lew and Doc have to solve two grisly murders. DeeDee Kurlander, the local glamour girl, is found dead under a pontoon boat belonging to a wealthy Chicagoan. Then a local widow is found dead in her home. The bodies of both victims were mutilated, apparently by a muskie gaff.

Trying to find the link between the killings, and therefore the killer, keeps Ferris and Osborne from doing much fishing themselves, but there are still plenty of opportunities for Houston to wax lyrical about the joys of the outdoors.

Ferris efficiently reels in the killer, and Houston proves once again that few things are more satisfying than a good fishing story.

Ann Hellmuth can be reached at ahellmuth@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5054.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/lifestyle/orl-houston1007jun10,0,1070742.story

Hardcover: 300 pages -- Bleak House Books, 2007 -- ISBN-10: 1932557393 --
ISBN-13: 978-1932557398 -- List price: $24.95

Paperback: 300 pages -- Bleak House; 1st edition, 2007 -- ISBN-10: 1932557334 -- ISBN-13: 978-1932557336 -- List price: $14.95

URL: http://www.victoriahouston.com/deadmadonna.html
Last updated: January 30, 2008