The Royal Wulff Murders

Starred review from December 19, 2011
A fisherman snags a body from a river, a sultry singer asks an artist to catch a fish her late father caught and marked, and feisty Montana sheriff Martha Ettinger refuses to take the easy way out in McCafferty’s thoroughly entertaining debut. Sean Stranahan, a recently transplanted Vermonter now living in Bridger, Mont., owns the art studio Blue Ribbon Watercolors, whose window sign includes the odd postscript “Private Investigations.” Velvet Lafayette is the lounge singer with the unusual and fishy request that hooks Stranahan. McCafferty blends plenty of fly-fishing lore (the Royal Wulff is a lure) with a host of intriguing characters, including fishing guide Rainbow Sam, Cottonwood Inn owner Doris Sizemore, and Blackfeet tracker Harold Little Feather. Only the sharp-eyed observation of the medical examiner suggests the body was a murder victim rather than an accidental drowning. The eventual identification of the victim helps link Stranahan’s task to that of the sheriff. The vivid Montana setting is a plus. Agent: Dominick Abel.