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Overview
The dark side of Northern Exposure, or perhaps the light side of Twin Peaks - that's the appealing, slightly eccentric place lucky readers discover upon opening one of Skye Kathleen Moody's mysteries featuring DOI Fish and Wildlife Agent Venus Diamond. Venus and her brand-new husband, Richard, are practically on the plane headed for a Hawaiian honeymoon when duty interferes. An Native American infant has disappeared from a tiny community in western Washington State along the Bogachiel National Wildlife Preserve. Her bosses want her to head up the investigating team, because no one knows the territory like Venus, but also because of the report of elk hoofprints near the baby's bassinet. Venus already has been investigating a series of elk poachings nearby. The case is especially complicated because of the rumors swirling around Iron County. Superstitious villagers seem convinced that the baby wasn't kidnapped - more likely snatched by "the Unknown," the monstrous creature villagers say roams the preserve in search of victims...Editorials
Library Journal
Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Agent Venus Diamond (Rain Dance, LJ 8/96) is summoned from her honeymoon to spearhead the search for a missing Native American infant in Washington State's Bogachiel National Wildlife Preserve. Already risking the loss of her new husband, Venus may also lose her own credibility as she focuses on the strange elk hoof-prints leading from the child's bassinet into the surrounding primeval forest. A fecund blend of Indian legend, wildcrafting (herb gathering and more) lore, elk poaching, indigenous eccentricity, interrupted romance, and vivid description recommends this to all mystery fans.Marilyn Stasio
...Moody makes a chilling case for the impact of the "Fountain of Youth" industry on the ecosystem... -- The New York Times Book ReviewKirkus Reviews
Fish and Wildlife Special Agent Venus Diamond (Blue Poppy), whose turf includes Washington Statens Bogachiel Wildlife Preserve, is honeymooning with husband Richard Winters, head of a forest conservation fund, when she's called back to duty by Secretary Wexler of the Department of the Interior (who, incidentally, is romantically involved with Venus' movie-star mother). Paris, one of the nine-month-old twins of Native Americans Winn and Theresa Nighteagle, has vanished from his bassinet, left outside the couple's trailer in the Cedar Grove Trailer Park on the edge of Bogachielnthe site marked by elk hoofprints. Agents and neighbors by the dozens scour the sometimes impenetrable woods to no avail. The trailer next to the Nighteagles is home to Bob and Carolee Brightman and their daughter Becca. Carolee is one of several wildcrafters illegally harvesting wild plants from the Preserve. Another is Clint Kellogg, a writer living in a beach house nearby. They both provide material for the Adonis Anti-aging Clinic in Los Angeles owned by Clint's brother Brad, a surgeon and master of the lunch lift. Another of his providers of human growth hormone is Dr. Lawrence Fish, who runs the Bogachiel Indian Clinic and hospital. Meanwhile, the body of a Finnish tourist has been found on the Preserve—his pituitary gland, according to the autopsy, removed. Agent Louis Song is sure the killer is the child molester he calls the Gecko, who recently escaped arrest. But much more much be discovered before the kidnapping is resolved, motives and culprits revealed, and Venus and Richard able to resume their honeymoon. It's a tribute to the author's skill that, despite a tangled web of plot threads anda jam-packed collection of mostly intriguing characters, suspense builds steadily to the socko finish. As a bonus, herbal enthusiasts will get an almost too generous gift of herbal lore.Book Details
Published
December 1, 1998
Publisher
New York : St. Martin's Press, 1998.
Pages
320
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780312193645