I
n Wiprud’s latest humdinger, über-savvy professional taxidermist Garth Carson returns (after 2005’s Stuffed
), having traded his skinning knife and freeze-dryer for a calculator and briefcase. With help from his brother, Nicholas, Carson’s scored a job as an insurance appraiser—of taxidermy collections, natch. He spends his days traveling the country while his New York shop, Carson’s Critters, rests in the hands of his capable-if-maladroit sidekick, Otto. Of course, white collar professional bliss doesn’t last long: when a running back for the Chicago Bears gets murdered, Carson becomes one of the FBI’s “persons of interest.” Evidently, the footballer—an avid big game hunter—was done in by the claws of one of his own taxidermy bears. Before you can say “stuffed and mounted,” three more murders turn up with the same MO, and Carson becomes the trophy in a madcap cross-country chase involving the FBI, the U.S. Air Force, a fraternal group called the Mystical Order of the Tupelca and the real mystery killer. Classic Wiprud, this story has no shortage of wacky characters and even wackier situations, but enough heart to make it all work. (June)
