Pun Salad

Another Joe Pickett novel from Mr. Box. As a number of people keep pointing out to him: Joe seems to be a magnet for trouble. I'm pretty sure he's been associated with at least 43% of the (fictional) mayhem in Wyoming over the previous two decades of game wardening.

In this one, he's out in the middle of a blizzard, looking to put a badly-injured elk out of its misery. When what to his wondering eyes should appear, but a small building set in the middle of nowhere. And a dead (human) body. Joe dutifully calls in his findings, gets shot at, gets warned off the case by devious Wyoming Governor Colter Allen, gets disrespected (as always) by his even more devious mother-in-law Missy, enlists the aid of his faithful wife Marybeth, resourceful daughter Sheridan, and good buddy Nate Romanowski.

The bad guys do not have a chance. Many of them wind up dead.

I have minor criticisms: the plot seems unlikely (even in Joe's universe), the villains are more-than-slightly cartoonish, the ending seems rushed and pat. But I did like the Marmot House.