“As unique a place in the mystery universe as you will ever find...smooth, unexpected, and memorable. This book is a diamond in the rough.” (Michael Connelly, number one New York Times best-selling author)

A record heat wave suffocates remote rural Wisconsin as the local sheriff tracks down a killer hidden in the depths of the community in this atmospheric, race-to-the-finish mystery by the acclaimed author of the Bad Axe County series.

Sheriff Heidi Kick has a dead body on her hands, a homeless young man last seen alive miles from the Bad Axe. Chillingly, the medical examiner confirms what Sheriff Kick has been experiencing in her own reoccurring nightmares of late: The victim was buried alive. As the relentless summer heat bears down and more bodies are discovered, Sheriff Kick also finds herself embroiled in a nasty reelection campaign. These days her detractors call her “Sheriff Mommy” - "KICK HER OUT" holler the opposition’s campaign signs - and as her family troubles become public, vicious rumors threaten to sway the electorate and derail her investigation. 

Enter Vietnam veteran Leroy Fanta, editor in chief of the local paper who believes Heidi’s strange case might be tied to a reclusive man writing deranged letters to the opinions section for years. With his heart and liver on their last legs, Fanta drums up his old journalistic instincts in one last effort to help Heidi find a lead in her case or at least a good story....

With simmering tension, Bad Moon Rising infuses newsworthy relevance with a pause-resisting story of crime in America’s heartland, capturing global issues with startling immediacy while entertaining from start to finish.