The Gray Ghost Murders

5 of 5
The Gray Ghost Murders
336 pages; Penguin Books
Former P.I. Sean Stranahan moves to Montana after his painful divorce, to fish and contemplate how "the wonder of a trout had nothing to do with its spots or the sheen of its flanks, but its ability to pull the angler back through time until he was no longer what the world had made of him, but who he was when the world was new." Sean's would-be life of fishing and philosophy is not to be, however: Two bodies surface on a nearby mountain and several vintage fishing flies—worth thousands of dollars—disappear from the local fly-fishing society; and, soon enough, he's thrown back into detective work. To a reader, the theft of some outdoor gear may not seem that alluring. You'll find yourself obsessed with the story, though, due to McCafferty's hilarious, spot-on depiction of rural politics (starring a female sheriff, a latte-making love interest and a fishing buddy), which proves that small Western towns are as rich—if not richer—in complexity as any world capital.
— Nathalie Gorman