Customer Reviews

Dead Renegade (Loon Lake Mystery Series)

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

 

 

Dead Renegade is the tenth book in Victoria Houston's Lone Lake series of mysteries featuring Dr. Paul Osborne and Chief of Loon Lake police Lewellyn Ferris. It is quite short at 187 pages of wide-spaced text, and it suffers from its brevity. It reads incredibly fast. There is little of the character development that has made the series outstanding. The plot is a conglomeration of possible child molestation, an old murder, the financial crimes of a totally unsympathetic wheeler-dealer, the attempted murder of his wife, and the death of a local bad boy just released from the Wisconsin penal system. None of the crimes are developed in detail; the solution to each is given in a check-it-off-the-list manner that makes it difficult to care about the victims or the process. I am much disappointed in this weak continuation of a good series. I would recommend either the library or waiting for a secondhand copy.

I have been a faithful reader of all of the Lake Loon series. I look forward to them.
I have to say Ms Houston has not given her best effort in Dead Renegage. It is noticably shorter than the earlier novels. There is not enough space given to make the plot more interesting. I believe she did less research on
this one in developing state of the art crimes. Overall, I was disapponted.

I have loved all her books and characters. I would have rate all of them a four or five. But this one was flat. I struggled to get through it. Perhaps it was the theme. Houston just failed to produce the tension necessary to make this what it could have been. I think it was because she did not want the Doctor's granddaughter to completely pass through a terrible crime. It was though she was protecting Doc. Thus, the book was just light fiction at best.

While searching the basement of Bart Nystrom's antique store with his daughter, Erin and her client Catherine Higgins, Doc Osborne unrolls an old carpet and finds a body. The corpse has evidently been hidden in the old carpet for years. The search is for an item belonging to Catherine Higgins and the last thing the group expected to find was a body. Doc immediately puts in a call to Police Chief Lew Harris and the antique store is temporarily closed.

Doc welcomes the chance to call Lew since he is feeling a little uneasy about their relationship. Lew has a class reunion coming up and she hasn't invited Doc. The two have been very close since Doc has worked as Lew's deputy and he is feeling uneasy about the reunion and an old classmate coming to town.

Both the cold case murder and Lew's coming reunion are forced to the back burner when Mason, Lew's granddaughter, has experienced something that has frightened her but she is not talking. Doc is concerned and anxious to find the underlying cause of Mason's problem.

C. J. Calverson has brought an upset Mason home. C. J. found Mason hiding in their garage. The Calverson's have just moved to town. Curt Calverson, C. J.'s husband, is the CEO of Calverson Finance. C. J. is very friendly and invites Doc and Ray Pradt to join the couple on their boat. Curt is anything but friendly. Not only is he rude to the guests but to C. J. as well.

Soon Lew begins to get reports about Calverson Finance and the fact that the company is taking advantage of elderly residents. Doc and Lew are trying to figure out what to do next about the Calverson Finance problem as well as attempting to solve the mystery of the body in the carpet. A local man has just been released from prison and it seems the recent robberies may have some connection to his return to town.

Solving all of the problems currently facing Loon Lake keep Lew and Doc busy and Ray Pradt also lends a hand. Ray is always on hand to help Lew in her investigations and first in line to charm the ladies.

There is a lot going on in this 10th book in the Loon Lake series. Dead Renegade can be read as a stand-alone but each book in the series is well worth reading.

I purchased this novel anticipating a fun, well written story like most of her previous novels have delivered. I was disappointed to find a poorly written book with minimal plot, hardly any character development, and an abrupt, unsatisfying conclusion. I felt as if the author had a severe case of writers' block and sent a half finished manuscipt to the publisher, one that lacked the depth and interest usually prodiced by Victoria Houston.

As I mentioned, the conclusion was the greatest disappointment. It arrived while the story was still only half developed, leaving too much unresolved. The sudden conclusion felt contrived, like it was appended as an afterthought due to contractual obligations.

All in all, not up to par with most of her other books.

The Loon Lake mysteries just keep getting better. The character are comfortable to be around. I just wish that they were around a little more often.

A Loon Lake Mystery
Bleak House Books

This is the 10th book of the Loon Lake Mystery series, set in a fictional small town in Wisconsin.

In this installment retired dentist Doc Osbourne finds a surprise in the basement of an antique store as he helps his lawyer daughter Erin and her client search for a piece of furniture that was taken to the antique shop in error. Doc realizes he must contact his girlfriend, chief of police, Lew Ferris, as he acknowledges a crime has definitely been committed.

Also inter-weaved into this story, Doc's granddaughter has been traumatized by something and she is refusing to talk, a dangerous man from the past has been paroled and returns to Loon Lake, plus a beautiful young woman and her shady husband have moved to Loon Lake and it seems their problems have followed them there.

A bunch of suspicious activity starts to take place and Doc, along with his friend, fly fisherman extraordinaire, Ray Pradt, have to work together with the chief to try to keep everyone safe and solve the crime wave that has overtaken Loon Lake. Hopefully there will be time when things settle down for Doc and Lew to spend some quality time together, fly fishing and.......

I LIKED IT!!!!

This is not a newly released book, but one that has been screaming at me from my To-Be-Read pile for awhile. This series has been one of my favorites, I don't think this is the best book in the series but it will not disappoint true fans of Loon Lake. All the characters we have grown to love and be comfortable with are here. The only weak point I felt there was in the story was the part about Doc's granddaughter, I think the problem was resolved too quickly, and maybe was a bit unbelievable. With that being said it was still a very enjoyable read.


This was a book from my private collection. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has a believable plot, authentic characters and plausible outcome. A definite must have for any library.