Doug and Jill Fletcher's Thanksgiving visit to South Dakota is interrupted by a call from the US Park Service, asking them to investigate a climber's fall at Devils Tower National Monument. The investigation quickly reveals that the fall was not the accident it was initially thought to be. Their investigation introduces them to the varied and colorful residents of northeastern Wyoming. The investigation is complicated by Doug's "testing" by Jill's family and their friends.
Dean is the best-selling author of more than thirty books in three series including the award winning "Family Trees." His Pine County series are set in rural Pine County Minnesota and are hard-boiled thrillers featuring the Pine County Sheriff's Department. His Doug Fletcher series are set in National Parks and Monuments. Fletcher is a retired St. Paul police detective who's drafted by the Park Service to investigate a number of murders, suspicious deaths, toxic waste dumping and other crimes. This series is also somewhat hard-boiled, but include a touch of romance and humor as Doug sorts out his relationship with his former boss, Jill Rickowski. The Whistling Pine series are cozies set in Two Harbors Minnesota. The protagonist is the recreation director of the Whistling Pines retirement community and he deals with the day-to-day issues of his senior citizens and is reluctantly dragged into the investigations of local murders.