The Gray Ghost Murders

Even amid the serene trout streams of Montana, Sean Stranahan can’t seem to stay out of trouble—and there’s a heap of it in this bracing second adventure for the fly fisher/painter/PI (after 2012’s The Royal Wulff Murders). When the skeletal remains of two people surface in as many days on Sphinx Mountain, shorthanded Sheriff Martha Ettinger asks for Sean’s help investigating. Another case Sean’s already pursuing, concerning a pair of extremely valuable stolen fishing flies, provides the perfect cover for snooping—and he soon uncovers disturbing suggestions that someone could be hunting human quarry. Field & Stream editor McCafferty skillfully weaves Big Sky color, humor, and even romance (in the form of Sean’s stunning new girlfriend, Martinique, who’s bankrolling veterinary school by working as a bikini barista) into the suspenseful plot as it gallops toward a white-knuckle—if confusing—climax. The book’s biggest lure, however, remains Sean and his rugged band of Montana individualists. Agent: Dominick Abel. (Feb.)