Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up **
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Beast of the North Woods is the 3rd-installment to Annelise Ryan’s Monster Hunter Cozy Mystery series. These quirky stories successfully combine two of my favorite things: creepy vibes and cozy mysteries.
These books follow MC, Morgan Carter, a cryptozoologist and specialty bookstore owner, who along with her adorable dog, Newt, investigates cases that may be linked to potential cryptid activity.
In this story, Morgan agrees to help her long-time store employee, Rita, after her nephew is accused of murder. He claims he is just a witness, having stumbled across the mutilated body of a local fisherman in the woods.
He also claims he saw a creature of many local legends, a Hodag, leaving the scene. He accuses the creature of being responsible for the gruesome crime.
The thing is, although his town of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, embraces the idea of the Hodag, incorporating it into their community, it’s also widely believed to be a hoax.
Even though she doesn’t believe Hodags to be real either, Morgan agrees to travel with Rita to Rhinelander to try to get to the bottom of it and clear Rita’s nephew’s name.
Once there though, Morgan’s presence causes a stir with the townsfolk, and the deeper she digs, the more danger she seems to be in. If a Hodag didn’t kill the fisherman, and Rita’s nephew didn’t either, who did?
This series is a bit silly, NGL, but it’s also super-duper fun. I’ve grown so attached to this cast of characters, (I’m looking at you, Newt) and am definitely hoping for more installments. There’s so many other cryptids to explore.
I had never heard of a Hodag before, so actually had to look it up. I liked how the author chose to use a lesser known cryptid this time. In the 1st-book, we had a Loch Ness Monster-like lake creature, and the 2nd-book revolved around Bigfoot, so this one was a surprise.
I also really love Morgan as an MC. She’s smart, daring and most importantly, a great Dog Mom, always putting Newt’s needs first. I never have to worry about him while reading, because I know Morgan is keeping him as safe as possible.
This was a solid mystery, that got increasingly complex the more we learned. I also appreciated that we dappled a little more into Morgan’s past as well, so it felt well-rounded. I liked learning more about her.
As with many cozy mysteries, we do follow along with Morgan’s personal life as well. She’s in a budding relationship, and it’s very new, so they are exploring those boundaries within this book, which was nice to see.
There were some fun twists, although a few things seemed obvious and it took Morgan longer to figure out than I would’ve thought. Otherwise, it did get more complicated than I expected and took some surprising turns. I had fun going along for the ride.
I would recommend this series to any Cozy Mystery fans, but particularly those looking for something a little different in their Cozy. It’s one-of-a-kind.
Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m looking forward to whatever comes next for Morgan and Newt.
Please don’t let this be the last!