Book Review: A Dangerous Season: A Sheriff Matt Callahan Mystery
A Dangerous Season: A Sheriff Matt Callahan Mystery. Russell Fee, Outer Island Press, September 6, 2021, Paperback, eBook, and Audiobook, 324 pages.
Review by Marssie Mencotti.
In Russell Fee’s newest addition to the Sheriff Matt Callahan Mystery universe, A Dangerous Season, Sheriff Matt Callahan expects to handle several minor but important requests from his constituents on iced-in Nicolet Island. It is an area rather carefully inhabited by both settlers and Native Americans, and there are tribal reservations intertwined with towns that support other residents. Two police forces also work side-by-side to provide dignity and respect for one another’s culture and native land.
Beyond this greater endeavor lies a life of smaller events; for instance, some fine chickens are stolen, and the Sheriff discovers that a very young girl is the thief. But bigger issues begin to take precedence. The nearby lake, pristine and noted for its ice fishing competitions, has been contaminated by fish brought in by an unknown source. Soon, a murder discovered in the deep woods was executed in a macabre style that indicates an Ojibwe demon, Wendigo, known to punish avarice and hate. Another murder happens in town with no clear suspect emerging as the killer. The police force(s) gently question their suspects but make little headway. Sheriff Callahan thinks several steps ahead ala Arsène Lupin. Working with his deputies, Amanda and Nick, they begin to unravel the multiple mysteries side-by-side with their Native American counterparts, Chief of Police of the Sault Tribal Police, Ralph Tanner, and his deputy Josh.
This is a true police procedural, especially when it includes special circumstances like managing a marginal population on an iced-in island. Russell Fee takes us there within the first few pages as Sheriff Callahan joins a member of the community in trapping a chicken thief who is as slippery as an eel to catch. I was fooled into thinking that this would be a simpler challenge than it turned out to be. The truth here is that multiple crimes are happening simultaneously, and the small police force is stretched to cover them all. Every lead is followed up conscientiously, and this is important because we are slowly learning how they are connected. The conclusion is violent but ties everything together, and we see the evil that has been going on for a long time was veiled in smaller misdeeds that congeal to reveal a very large and complex web of crime.
Some mysteries go deep into the lead detective’s personality while others are obsessively detailed to provide satisfaction, but to me, this seems to be a true American mystery. That means it is spare but written with integrity at its core and a long view of maintaining what is best for all people and not just a few.
I enjoyed this book immensely and fully intend to read the first two in this series. It is cinematic. The moods of snow, fog, and ice are included to show the difficulty in solving a series of crimes in a hostile but beautiful environment. The dialog is only what is necessary for survival—exactly what the terrain and ambiance call for but closer to the feelings that we American’s cherish—the right to remain silent, or at least very tight-lipped. The pages flew by, and the story remained taut throughout, moving forward like a freight train. The evildoers couldn’t help themselves; although they twisted and turned, the truth came out from unexpected sources.
Overall, Russell Fee has written an exciting book that always seemed possible. As a reader, I rode along with each of the police professionals as they asked their questions and drew their conclusions, and then they surprised me with their spot-on action.
A Dangerous Season is an accessible police procedural mystery with no over-complicated plot, but each event followed the next and built to a fine conclusion. It is about people getting by, casually crossing lines of right and wrong, encouraging excessive mob behavior, trying very hard to do the right thing and other behavior that often reflects the current state of our society. But, of course, that doesn’t include the presence of the seriously frightening demon, Wendigo, who seems to be handling Ojibwe tribal evil quite efficiently in its own way. Read this book and enjoy a fascinating view of deep winter in the islands of northern Michigan and a lifestyle that can become extreme in many ways.