I'm a sucker for anything set on Lake Michigan, even if it is the wrong state (kidding), and this was super fun - Morgan Carter runs an oddities shop and is the daughter of two deceased famous cryptid hunters, hired on by a new police chief to help investigate some mysterious deaths happening in the area. Certainly check trigger warnings if you feel like they're something you appreciate: both Morgan and Flanders have experienced personal situations that are relevant and well-done but not something you'd necessarily expect in a murder mystery.

I think there's some stylistic choices in the cozy mystery genre as a whole that I don't love - some information is definitely repeated to ensure the reader picks up on clues, and Morgan is 32 but talks like she's 82 (I'm not that much younger than her and I would never refer to a group of men as "fellows"), but the more I read them, the less I care as long as the story is good. And this is well-plotted and fairly well-paced, with an ending that's surprising but still believable. 

Shockingly, I'm very interested in a budding romance subplot, but I'd still pick up the next one in this series even without it! I can't wait to see what mysterious creature Morgan investigates next.

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!

CW:

Morgan's parents were brutally murdered (remembered in detail) and she was once a suspect. She believes her former fiance who was interested in her for her money to be the killer. Flanders lost his toddler son and wife to a drunk driving accident (off-page, remembered in some detail). Regular murder mystery stuff includes dead bodies, deadly injuries, gore, kidnapping, guns (no gun injuries), blood, alcohol consumption, monsters, and a brief domestic violence subplot for a minor non-narrative character