Death in Cold Water: A Dave Cubiak Door County Mystery

Sheriff Dave Cubiak investigates the disappearance of wealthy 82-year-old Gerald Sneider, an avid Green Bay Packer fan known as Mr. Packer, in Skalka’s tangled third mystery set in Wisconsin’s Door County (after 2015’s Death Stalks Door County). A search of Sneider’s home finds a cryptic note: “Pay or he dies”; a similar message turns up at the Packers’ office in Green Bay, prompting a call to Cubiak from FBI special agent Quigley Moore. Although Cubiak is nominally in charge of what the authorities are treating as a kidnapping case, Moore and his assistant agent, Gwen Harrison, virtually take over. Meanwhile, Cubiak becomes interested in an old human bone fragment that his dog discovers on the beach. Further messages from the kidnapper increase the pressure on law-enforcement to break the case. Cubiak talks to a lot of people to find the key to unlock past and present crimes in this competently written tale. (Oct.)