A Death in Eden: A Sean Stranahan Mystery

The setting for the seventh installment of this outdoors series (after The Royal Wulff Murders) is the Smith River of central Montana. Home to spectacular scenery and world-class trout fishing, the river is at the center of a debate about a proposed copper mine that could negatively impact the purity of the water and damage the ecosystem. Sean Stranahan guides a float trip that includes both the leading opponent and the proponent of the mine and a documentary filmmaker to record their conversations. Also on the river is Sean's friend Harold Little Feather, who is investigating the appearance of scarecrows and antimine slogans posted along the waterway. Award-winning author McCafferty, who is also editor of Field and Stream, adroitly intertwines the stories of Sean and Harold as they, along with Sheriff Martha Ettinger, seek to discover the identity of a headless man found floating in the water, locate the creator of the scarecrows, find Harold's son who disappeared while enjoying the river, and determine how a vengeful and dangerous man who has been poaching bears in Yellowstone National Park figures into the overall scheme of events.