Dead Catch

"Holden Riggins is an expert outdoorsman and a known poacher. He's made a small fortune by exploiting nature's bounty. So it's no surprise when two conservation officers (COs) from the Department of Natural Resources come upon Holden's fishing boat, anchored beside an illegal walleye net. What is a surprise, though, is Holden's condition: nearly frozen to death on the bottom of his boat. That's not the COs' most shocking discovery. Twisted and tangled within the twines of another nearby net is the dead body of their missing colleague. After the COs save Holden from the icy grip of hypothermia, the suspected murderer refuses to answer questions. The only person he'll speak with is Sam Rivers, a man he last saw when they were 12 years old. Since then, Holden has become a known scofflaw and ex-con, using wilderness and everything in it for his ill-gotten gains. Sam has become a special agent for the US Fish & Wildlife Service, hunting, capturing, and incarcerating criminals-like his childhood friend. Throughout the state's finest walleye lakes, the population of Minnesota's most prized game fish has been unaccountably dropping. Holden's net might explain why. Has he resurrected his illegal netting ring, cashing in on the state's $25-million walleye industry? Did he commit murder to evade the law? One thing is certain: Sam will follow the facts wherever they lead-but is he the one reeling in suspects, or is he just the bait? Natural history writer Cary J. Griffith brings back Sam Rivers for his fourth outdoors-themed mystery-a suspenseful novel filled with fast-paced action"--

About the author

Award-winning author Cary J. Griffith grew up among the woods, fields, and emerald waters of eastern Iowa. His childhood fostered a lifelong love of wild places. He earned a B.A. in English from the University of Iowa and an M.A. in library science from the University of Minnesota.

Griffith’s books explore the natural world. In nonfiction, he covers the borderlands between civilization and wild places. In fiction, he focuses on the ways some people use flora and fauna to commit crimes, while others with more reverence and understanding of the natural world leverage their knowledge to bring criminals to justice. In both genres, readers are likely to learn something about our relationship to the natural world and the creatures who inhabit it.

“I was 14 the first time I visited the lakes and boreal forests of northeastern Minnesota,” says Griffith, “and its beauty struck me.”

Griffith is also the author of Wolf Kill, Cougar Claw, Killing Monarchs, Gunflint Burning, Lost in the Wild, and Opening Goliath. He lives with his family in a suburb of Minnesota’s Twin Cities.

Summary

A murdered conservation officer and a multi-million-dollar poaching business—how are they connected to Sam Rivers’ childhood friend?

Holden Riggins is an expert outdoorsman and a known poacher. He’s made a small fortune by exploiting nature’s bounty. So it’s no surprise when two conservation officers (COs) from the Department of Natural Resources come upon Holden’s fishing boat, anchored beside an illegal walleye net.

What is a surprise, though, is Holden’s condition: nearly frozen to death on the bottom of his boat. That’s not the COs’ most shocking discovery. Twisted and tangled within the twines of another nearby net is the dead body of their missing colleague.

After the COs save Holden from the icy grip of hypothermia, the suspected murderer refuses to answer questions. The only person he’ll speak with is Sam Rivers, a man he last saw when they were 12 years old. Since then, Holden has become a known scofflaw and ex-con, using wilderness and everything in it for his ill-gotten gains. Sam has become a special agent for the US Fish & Wildlife Service, hunting, capturing, and incarcerating criminals—like his childhood friend.

Throughout the state’s finest walleye lakes, the population of Minnesota’s most prized game fish has been unaccountably dropping. Holden’s net might explain why. Has he resurrected his illegal netting ring, cashing in on the state’s $25-million walleye industry? Did he commit murder to evade the law? One thing is certain: Sam will follow the facts wherever they lead—but is he the one reeling in suspects, or is he just the bait?

Natural history writer Cary J. Griffith brings back Sam Rivers for his fourth outdoors-themed mystery—a suspenseful novel filled with fast-paced action.

Foreword

Publicity Plans

• Upper Midwest regional media push to newspapers, magazines, NPR, very comprehensive


• Targeted national media push to select newspapers, magazines, NPR, men’s magazines


• Select mystery outlets, including The Strand Mystery Magazine, Mystery Tribune, Mystery Fanfare, Suspense Magazine, and CrimeReads.com


• Select broadcast and online media, especially targeting Upper Midwest


• Select environmental media


• Author promotion through website at carygriffith.com

Event Schedule

• Extensive author events in bookstores and libraries in Minneapolis area and Northern Minnesota


• Author events in the mystery reader subreddits at Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything)


• Will explore attendance at mystery conventions

Marketing

• Seeking partnership with local bookstore for signed pre-order campaign


• Bookseller outreach with Indie next campaign


• Bookseller marketing campaign including ARCs available at Winter Institute and spring regional meetings


• Library outreach with ARCs available at ALA Midwinter


• Book Club Outreach with Reading and Discussion Guide


• Goodreads giveaways


• Outreach to mystery book clubs

Product details

• Authors: Cary J. Griffith
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 11.06.2024, delayed
• EAN: 9781647554019
• ISBN: 978-1-64755-401-9
• No. of pages: 416
• Series: A Sam Rivers Mystery
• Subjects: Fiction > Suspense; FICTION / Thrillers / Crime, SPORTS & RECREATION / Fishing, Thriller / suspense fiction, Thriller / suspense, Fishing, angling