Death Rides the Ferry by Patricia Skalka

She divides her time between Milwaukee and Door County, Wisconsin. Patricia Skalka is the author of Death Stalks Door County, Death at Gills Rock, Death in Cold Water, Death Rides the Ferry, and Death by the Bay, the first five books in the popular Dave Cubiak Door County Mystery series. As tensions escalate among neighbors unhappy about the noise and commotion, the sheriff discovers that more than one person on the peninsula has a motive for murder. In a setting where pretense is the norm, Cubiak must determine if suspects are who they say they are or if their made-up identities conceal a ruthless killer. When the medical examiner discovers the man didn’t simply drown during the storm, Cubiak searches for answers.Ĭhasing leads, the sheriff learns the victim directed a troupe of live-action role players living in an ersatz Camelot.

His assistant, marooned at the justice center overnight, calls with an ominous message about a body discovered on the beach. He leaves the comfort of his home and heads out into the aftermath, checking in with folks along the way to offer help. In the wake of a brutal storm that lashed the Door County peninsula, Sheriff Dave Cubiak assesses the damage: broken windows, downed trees, and piles of mysterious debris along the shoreline. Patricia Skalka's rendering of Cubiak and all the colorful characters in Death Washes Ashore is compelling and empathetic, written in simple, elegant language and revealing dialogue. “Dave Cubiak, the taciturn, grieving, relentless sheriff of Door County and irresistible protagonist, has a problem.

Death Rides the Ferry by Patricia Skalka