Dead Man Dancing

Starred review from June 29, 2020
Galligan’s outstanding sequel to 2019’s Bad Axe County puts Wisconsin sheriff Heidi Kick, his all-too-human lead, through the wringer. Kick is having marital troubles, which are exacerbated by a friend’s report of seeing her husband with an unknown blond woman. In addition, her seven-year-old daughter is grappling with her gender identity and Kick is getting death threats from someone accusing her of treason, election fraud, and hate crimes as white supremacists are assaulting people of color in Axe County. Meanwhile, someone shoots up the mailbox of Augustus Pfaff, a retired history teacher who’s about to publish a book about fugitive slaves who settled in the county. Pfaff is later gunned down in his home, which is then set on fire. Not knowing her adversary’s identity or the seriousness of the risk she faces, Kick must watch her back as she investigates the murder and the assaults. Galligan juggles the multiple plotlines without ever straining credibility. Ace Atkins fans should be drawn to this gripping account of an honest law enforcement officer battling racists. Agent: Joanna MacKenzie, Nelson Literary.

August 1, 2020
When we met her in last year's Bad Axe County (2019), Heidi Kick was interim sheriff of this seedy Wisconsin territory. Now she's full-time, sounding like somebody with a job. She fights with the payroll department over time off, and she's undermined by big-bellied old boys who call her Sheriff Snowflake. Her husband complains she's gone too much. Her brother-in-law barrels around in a truck adorned with a great, big Confederate flag. And she's trying to stop smoking. Not Raymond Chandler's mean streets exactly?until she's suddenly dealing with the murder and mutilation of an amiable local, followed by the uncovering of a cage fight club used as training ground for a right-wing group with a horrifying action plan. Their motto: "It's time for strong white men to act." Some fine action scenes result, sparked by one outlandish villain: "I melted the snowflake," he brags after throwing acid at a woman. "Hydrochloric justice." Heidi doesn't want any more of this scoundrel, but his presence certainly shifts the novel into overdrive, the way only a truly despicable villain can do.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)