Bangtail Ghost: A Sean Stranahan Mystery

The discovery of a woman’s mutilated body in the mountains of southwest Montana propels McCafferty’s top-notch eighth mystery featuring painter, fishing guide, and occasional PI Sean Stranahan (after 2018’s A Death in Eden). Paw prints and DNA evidence indicate that the woman was killed and partially eaten by a mountain lion. The locals react with alarm, and Sean’s fiancée, Sheriff Martha Ettinger, forms a task force to identify the victim and track down the lion before it kills again. Initial attempts fail dramatically, but eventually Sean and dog handler Buster Garrett tree and kill the cat in a vividly drawn nighttime chase. A few months later, however, when both a sheep herder and Buster are killed in eerily similar lion attacks, the cycle appears to be starting again. A gimmicky means of murder revealed late in the story ties up a few loose ends, but crime is only of secondary interest. The primary focus throughout is Montana’s Big Sky country and its big cats. Regional mystery fans have cause to rejoice. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary. (Aug.)