Bogged Down

Bogged Down, mystery set on Vashon Island, a place that has been described as Mayberry-meets-Burning Man. Lavender (Lew) Lewis moves there because it is only a twenty-minute ferry ride from Seattle, yet light years away in tempo and character. She grew up on a commune in Alaska, joined the army at 17, does woods parkour for exercise and HR investigations to earn a living. Life in her waterfront cabin with her two food-obsessed cats is predictable and relatively stress free. Then she leads a tour group into an ancient bog on the Island and finds a hand poking up from a pond. The victim was a strong advocate for the wilding of the island. Unfortunately, the lone cougar and four packs of coyotes weren't interested in living in harmony with the Island's pets and livestock, dividing the community into pro-wilders and anti-wilders. A dead coyote is hung from a post next to Lew's cabin door, a police officer protecting participants in the annual coyote survey is shot, threatening messages are left pinned to doors with kitchen knives, and a drug addicted son seeks revenge for his mother's missing cat. When a second murder occurs, the question is whether the deaths are connected or if the formerly peaceful community is home to not one, but two killers.