Customer Reviews

Dead Frenzy (Loon Lake Fishing Mystery)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read all of Victoria Houstons books and believe this is the best yet. There are a lot of suprises and twists to this book. You had best pay attention or you will miss something. I really enjoy all of her books with their intrigue. Her books keep your attention and I have difficulties puting them down. I would certainly recommend this book or any of her others. You do not have to be a person who loves fishing, but some interest in it adds to the pleasure.

This fourth in the series proves that practice improves an already good series! As a past visitor to Rhinelander, WI and the Northwoods, Houston's stories are always interesting and accurately portray the little bergs in my state.
As an avid mystery/suspense reader AND a registered dental hygienist in Green Bay, I appreciate Houston's knowledge of dentistry and enjoy her references to it in her books. The fly fishing quotes at the beginning of each chapter are great, as are her descriptions of fly fishing. I have lessons in my list of goals to accomplish just from reading her descriptions!

She has managed to put contaminated streams from mining operations, Indian Gaming Casinos, etc., all issues in the local news, in her previous books in accurate detail. I loved the Fishing Tournament in this book, but hope she uses the Harley Rally again so she can develop that story line!

I was one of six people privliged to have dinner with the author as the result of winning a contest in the Green Bay Press Gazette a couple of years ago. What a fun evening! Houston is even more interesting than her characters! I can't wait for the next one in the series to be published so I can tell all my patients about it, too!

This book was excellent. The characters are even deeper and the settings are very realistic. While I'm reading the Loon Lake mysteries, I feel like I'm there, seeing everything first hand. Lew is my favourite character and i like the way that Ms Houston gives her insecurities and dooubts along with conviction and courage. Ray is more fun with each book and Doc osbourne's crush on Lew is very sweet. I hope there are many more Loon Lake books in the near future!

DEAD FRENZY is the 4th Loon Lake Fishing mystery series by Victoria Houston staring retired, widowed dentist Doc Osborn & Police Chief Lew Ferris. Life is anything but boring in Loon Lake. Things get kind of crazy when a fishing tournament & a biker convention convene at the same time. Lots of people have descended on the town including those who used to live and work there; not all are there for simple fun. Ray, Doc's unorthodox friend and neighbor, is hired as a bodyguard for one of the visiting VIPs; he might get his chance of a fishing TV show yet. Once Osborne is deputized, they have their hands full trying to make sure there is no cheating during the million dollar tournament & dealing with the possibility of drug deals with the bikers. The paramedics have had to rescue a few kids with similar symptoms. Has Ecstacy found its way to the Loon Lake area? Then they have to figure out why bikes are being sold cheaply. Doc gets quite involved when he goes undercover as a biker-once he learns how to ride one. (He discovers he likes riding a bike.) On top of all that, someone is making obscene phone calls from his office to his women patients, & one of Doc's daughters, Erin, is having trouble with her marriage. She is especially worried because her husband bought one of the bikes. Osborn's neighbor, Brenda Anderle, has the hots for him, but Chief Ferris would be his first choice. He's really not sure how to tell her he isn't interested. Last but not least, Doc would like to solve an old murder case he feels the wrong person was convicted of.
If you haven't read the other books, don't worry you don't have to read them in order.

Excellent reading couldn't put the book down. Now a series of books by Victoria Houston. A very likable cast of charactors. A edge of your seat type book. I recommend all of the books by the author, in this series.

In the 4th book in the Loon Lake Fishing mystery series, the small town of Loon Lake, Wisconsin, is soon to be flooded with crowds of people. Hosting both a million dollar bass tournament and a motorcycle rally, the chief of police, Lewellyn "Lew" Ferris, has resigned herself to working long hours with little time for fly-fishing.

On one of their last fishing trips before the crowds converge on Loon Lake, Lew and her close friend, Doc Osborne, find a woman in her car suffering from a drug overdose. Lew knows that there is a DEA investigation underway in the area, and quickly becomes part of the investigating team. She deputizes Doc again to help in the case, and he goes undercover as a newbie Harley owner. During this investigation, Lew and Doc stumble over a tournament contestant with cheating in his plans, and they being to wonder how far someone would go to get the million dollar prize money. If this wasn't enough to keep them busy, an old murder/suicide case resurfaces, and working along with their good friend, Ray Pradt, the dynamic duo puts away the crime-ring intent on bringing evil into their peaceful hometown.

This is a great series! I originally picked up the first installment when my son returned from a visit with relatives in Wisconsin, and was very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the series right away. Lew, Doc, and Ray are vivid, vibrant characters that seem to live right among the pages in these cleverly written books. I love the way that they work together, and I love the suspense regarding the growing relationship between Lew and Doc. The plots in each of the books slowly unfold, and will leave you guessing to the very end. This is a great addition to the cozy genre!

The first book in the series is called "Dead Water". Enjoy!

This is the fourth book in the Loon Lake Fishing Mystery series and I've become rather fond of this little town and its residents as I've been reading through the series. They are very likeable and easy going people that are fully developed and which really hold one's attention...at least that's the way I feel about them. This particular mystery centers on a biker convention that has drawn a large number of bikers (naturally) AND a fishing tournament, both of which have drawn crowds to the small town. Most of them are nice...but a few are not and that's where Doc. Osborn, Chief Ferris, and Ray find themselves knee deep in a murder mystery when they'd rather be knee deep in a river fishing.

I have to admit, for a sleepy little town, Loon Lake sure seems to have a lot going on! Aside from the somewhat silly idea that SO much happens here that warrants the deputizing of both a retired dentist and the local color (in the form of Pradt - a one time trouble maker turned expert guide) and solving at least one BIG murder/smuggling ring every couple of months, I really do like the characters and feel of this series. Its nice light reading that still manages to be both interesting and keep me mostly on the edge of my seat. I still love the age of the characters, it's nice to see people over 40 being the hero, instead of the young, hot 25 year old...don't get me wrong, those are fun too...but you don't get middle aged all the way up to retired people in the murder-mystery/thriller genre too often anymore. Nice change of pace. Dead Frenzy has good pacing, interesting details and is just plain fun to read, I give it an A-, it'd make a nice read for several afternoons curled up on the porch.

Small town mysteries abound. Good examples would include those by Joan Hess, Susan Rogers Cooper, and Diane Mott Davidson. Perhaps the most popular would be the _Cat Who..._ series by Lillian Jackson Braun. Victoria Houston writes in much the same vein as Braun, but without the cats and the annoying psychic moustache. The quality of her writing is certainly of the same, if not better, caliber.

Quiet little Loon Lake is hopping this summer. A fishing tournament is expected to bring in 15,000 visitors, and a Harley-Davidson rally in a nearby town is expected to bring 30,000 bikers into the Northwoods at the same time. To top it off, someone is funneling drugs and hot bike parts through the area, a VIP is being stalked, and an old murder, once thought solved, is re-opened.

Paul Osborne, retired dentist and amateur trout fisherman is always willing to help out his lady friend and fishing tutor, Police Chief Lew Ferris. When she suggests that he pose as a Harley rider in hopes of getting a line on the drugs and hot parts, he also discovers a taste for the open road. Meanwhile, Doc Osborne's pal Ray, famous for his guiding and grave digging skills, is hired as a bodyguard for the stalked VIP. Toss in a daughter's marital crisis, a million dollar tournament prize, and lots of long-lost locals, and things certainly get interesting!

Unlike the characters in some series, these folk have grown since their first outing in _Dead Angler_. They learn from their mistakes, and even the flighty Ray has one foot firmly anchored in common sense. In _Dead Frenzy_, more insight is given into Lew's life, and Doc and she address their relationship and where it is going.

Houston has a way with words; her use of colloquialisms unique to Loon Lake is a reminder that small town life can be isolating. Her humor is well rationed, and while Ray may seem over-the-top (having met the "real" Ray, I can affirm that he is not), the good doctor is a pleasant, witty voice. The description of a fishing experience is well done, depicting the Northwoods to a "T." The mystery is plotted well, and there is enough action to keep the reader engaged to the end. The Loon Lake series holds great promise for a pleasurable reading retreat.
Reviewed by kat >^.^<

I've now read all four "Dead" books in the Loon Lake mystery series and am recommending them to friends and relations who enjoy not just good mysteries, but series where you get to know characters like friends and neighbors.Like most of the women he encounters, I've fallen for Ray and come to admire Lou, the police chief who stars in each of the books. Houston's plotting gets richer in each effort, her characters more intriguing and always there is such lush detail in her descriptions of the Wisconsin woods I feel like I'm there, boating, hunting and especially catching and cooking up fish.

There are a few mystery/adventure series with fishing for which I eagerly await each new book. Randy Wayne White and Doc Ford, William Tapply and Brady Coyne, Philip Craig and J.W. Jackson, James Lee Burke and Dave Robicheaux, and now of course, Victoria Houston and her characters, Lew, Doc, and Ray. These recurring characters take on a life of their own and it seems like you know them personally after a few books. I feel like I've known these three all my life. Dead Frenzy has a little something for every taste. Fishing, murder, an old unsolved murder, antique fishing lures and rods, drug smuggling, a biker convention along with a biker chop shop. She tops it off with a crooked Bass pro and his cronies who plan to fix a million dollar Bass tournament. What else could you want? My only complaint was it didn't contain more Smallmouth Bass fishing - I say that with a grin. This is a series of books I can recommend - if you haven't already read them, order all four.