Death at Gills Rock

April 27, 2015
Angst-laden former Chicago homicide detective Dave Cubiak uncovers long-buried secrets in this quietly memorable regional police procedural, the sequel to 2014’s Death Stalks Door County. Now the sheriff of Door County, which occupies the peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan, Cubiak is bothered by inconsistent details at the scene where three prominent locals, heroes from WWII, have died in an apparent accident in isolated Gills Rock, “a blip of a town at the tip of the peninsula.” Cubiak studies the people involved more than the physical evidence, peeling back decades of deception by the dead men; their “heroism” may have hidden a wartime murder, and they have injured many people since then. He eventually arrives at a solution that may not be legally proper but serves justice. Skalka write with unusually rich detail about her story’s setting and with unflinching empathy for her characters.

April 15, 2015
A Wisconsin sheriff lets his conscience be his guide. Dave Cubiak is haunted by his past. Still not over the death of his wife and daughter, the former Chicago cop has retreated to Door County, become sheriff, and started to make a new life for himself when a case that will test all his resources shocks the area. Three World War II heroes about to be honored by the Coast Guard are all found dead, apparent victims of carbon monoxide poisoning while playing cards at a cabin on the Huntsman property. Terrence "Big Guy" Huntsman, Eric Swenson, and Jasper Wilkins, local boys from the small town of Gills Rock, all enlisted together. A fourth friend, Christian Nils, lost his life in their heroic attempt to rescue 170 men stranded in the frigid waters of the Aleutian Islands. The three surviving friends have all become wealthy businessmen whose deaths would be written off as an accident if not for Cubiak's feeling that something's not right. When a neighbor of Big Guy's shoots her husband dead and confesses to the crime, she avers that they all deserved what they got and then clams up. But she sets Cubiak on the road to some nasty discoveries and a growing list of suspects. Realizing that the heroes were anything but heroic and the suspects more deserving of sympathy than he assumed, Cubiak has some big decisions to make before he puts paid to the case. The second installment of this first-rate series (Death Stalks Door County, 2014) provides plenty of challenges for both the detective and the reader.

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Starred review from May 1, 2015

After tracking down a killer in Death Stalks Door County, former Chicago homicide detective Dave Cubiak returns as the newly elected sheriff of Door County, WI. When three popular World War II vets die from carbon monoxide poisoning during their weekly card game just before the fishing community of Gills Rock was going to honor them, Dave suspects something is amiss. He notices that the door to the cabin where the men were found was bolted shut. When one of the widows receives a message telling her, "They got what they deserved" his suspicions are verified. VERDICT In her atmospheric, tightly written sequel, Skalka vividly captures the beauty of a remote Wisconsin peninsula that will attract readers of regional mysteries. Also recommended for fans of William Kent Kruger, Nevada Barr, and Mary Logue.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2015
Dave Cubiak, Door County sheriff, came to his job with baggage. He still misses the wife and daughter killed by a drunk driver. Moving to Door County from Chicago and leaving behind a job as a homicide detective to become a park ranger and then sheriff is a major lifestyle adjustment. Things are usually very quiet in the isolated rural Wisconsin county. The discovery of three bodies in the small fishing village of Gills Rock gives Cubiak a new challenge. The three men, prominent citizens about to be honored for their service in WWII, appear to have died from carbon-monoxide poisoning in the log cabin where they held weekly poker games. Cubiak is not convinced the deaths were accidental. When one of the widows receives a note saying that the men got what they deserved, further investigation ensues. As he digs deeper, the sheriff finds a trail leading to the victims' wartime activity. Skalka captures the gloomy small-town atmosphere vividly, and her intricate plot and well-developed characters will appeal to fans of William Kent Krueger.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)