Paul and Lew first assume the young woman drowned while fishing. As all good dentists are apt to do, Paul begins to discuss the deceased’s dental work and then realizes her gold crowns have been pulled out, postmortem. (Paul worked in forensics during the Korean War.) Oddly enough, the Chief of Police neither has her beeper nor her cell phone on her nor in her truck, so they must leave the body on the riverbank and drive to the nearest pay phone to call an ambulance.

Meredith’s half-sister, Alicia Roderick, has lived in Loon Lake all her life and seems to take Meredith’s death hard, even though there are plenty of reasons for Alicia to have hated Meredith: Alicia’s step-mother doted on Meredith and spoiled her a great deal as a child. Meredith left Loon Lake early on, married, started two successful restaurants in Illinois, wrote two cookbooks and filed for divorce before returning to Loon Lake. Oddly though, no one in this small town, where her sister still lives, knew anything of her successes.

The plot is made more complex when a federal agent shows up undercover (although it doesn’t take long for him to spill the beans to quite a few locals) tracing a drug operation. His cover is the annual Walleye Tournament, which looks like it may be a bust since the boats have yet to be delivered. Lew and her newly deputized assistant, Paul, follow the trail of money, lust and greed, trying to see who has the most to gain by Meredith’s death, and now hoping to help the federal agent uncover the source of a major drug transport operation.

Dead Angler is a fast-paced, enjoyable read, in spite of a few not so believable procedures: leaving a dead body unattended, the Chief of Police having to deputize a dentist to help her solve a case instead of using her force, however small it might be, and the Chief of Police not carrying a cell phone or beeper.

Paul is a very interesting character who has a lot of issues (a dislike and resentment of his oldest daughter, the recent death of his wife, some built up anger that appears in dreams, plus a huge, long-time crush on Lew) that will interesting to work through in the next few books of this projected series. Lew, too, seems to have a past to struggle with and come to terms with. The other characters are colorful, small-town friends, who are very loyal to Paul and help him out in any situation.

Dead Angler is a satisfactory debut with an interesting hook. Victoria Houston is knowledgeable enough about fishing to use enough jargon to add to the story, but not enough to lose readers unfamiliar with the sport. This is a story with good potential for a long-lived series.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry