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When Earl Bagley settles down in his home-made fishing shack over a hole drilled through the thick, snow-blanketed ice of Hiram Bog, he expects to sip a little Yukon Jack and catch a big fat Pickerel to take home to his sweet wife Olive for their dinner. But instead of a fish, Earl hooks a hand. A be-ringed hand attached to arm in a pink sleeve. A nasty business. Poor old Earl nearly knocks himself senseless skidding across the ice to his truck, scrambling to go for help.
Help is the new Sheriff of Thoreau County who is also a newcomer to Venice, Maine. Sheriff Sam Barrows has the challenge of investigating the murder of the local philanthropist pulled from the ice in a town that distrusts him because he is considered an outsider. But as an outsider, Sam has an edge with the fresh viewpoint he brings because Venice isn't the idyllic town that one would expect. People are poor and strapped, and it seems as if a genuine crime spree is underway.
When a local eccentric is shot and an attempt is made on the life of an old lady, Sam realizes that finding the motive and killer or killers behind such a seemingly unconnected series of crimes isn't going to be easy. He has too many suspects: a group of thugs from a local family known for violence and blatant thievery; a local trucker with a side career as the resident drug dealer; a retired dairy farmer with an old score to settle; and the owner of the general store whose shady dealings and venomous mother give most members of the community pause. One thing Sam is certain about, the killer will strike again and soon.
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