Cougar Claw

(Paperback)

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Description

In this outdoors mystery, special agent Sam Rivers investigates the unexplainedand very unlikelycougar attack that killed a wealthy business owner.

The sighting of a cougar in the Minnesota River Valley, outside the Twin Cities, is incredibly rare. A deadly cougar attack on a human in this area is about as likely as getting struck by lightningtwice. Yet when wealthy business owner Jack McGregor is found dead, the physical evidence seems incontrovertible.

Sheriff Rusty Benson brings in Sam Rivers, a US Fish & Wildlife (USFW) special agent and a wildlife biologist, to examine the scene and sign off on his conclusions. But Sams experiences have given him a penchant for understanding predators, and he has more questions than answers.

Details begin to surface that challenge law enforcements open-and-shut case. To find justice, Sam must take matters into his own hands. He enlists the help of reporter Diane Talbott and his wolf-dog, Gray, whos in training to become a working dog for the USFW. Grays nose leads the investigation in unexpected directions. The more rocks Sam turns over, the more motives for murdering McGregor seem to slither out.

With no help or support from local law enforcement, Sam and his team are all that stand between justice and those who might otherwise get away with murder. Sams knowledge of backcountry, cougars, and the criminal mind will be put to the test, as he tries to solve the caseand stay alive.

InCougar Claw,natural history writer Cary J. Griffith brings back Sam Rivers, the predators predator, and pens a puzzling mystery filled with suspense and intrigue.

Reviews

In this highly anticipated second novel in the Sam Rivers series, Cary J. Griffith delivers another finely researched and compellingly written thriller. Both the beauty and the savagery of our natural world form the heart of a Griffith story. In this case, its the predatory habits of cougars. When the killing of a Twin Cities man in an apparent cougar attack brings Sam to the Minnesota River Valley to investigate, what follows is a gradual and fascinating revelation of not just the predatory nature of cougars, but that of humans as well.
William Kent Krueger, Edgar Award-winning author of This Tender Land

Griffithand his very engaging hero, Sam Riversboth know the Minnesota wilderness inside and out. But be careful. After staying up all night to devour Cougar Claw, you may find yourself listening for a low growl the next time youre alone in the forest.
Brian Freeman, New York Times best-selling author of The Deep, Deep Snow

From the first page to the last, Cougar Claw blends high suspense with the quiet observations of the predators predator, Sam Rivers. Between Griffiths descriptions of Minnesotas natural beauty and the human nature of his characters, this is a book you wont want to end.
Debra H. Goldstein, award-winning author of the Sarah Blair mystery series

Mixing deep knowledge of the natural world with the twists and turns of the best suspense novels, Cougar Claw is a thoughtful and thrilling story.
Mary Logue, author of the Claire Watkins mysteries and The Streel

Griffith doubles down on his strengths in this series, giving us another vibrant cast of allies, suspects, and a misunderstood predator, while navigating a path between animal rights and human fears of the natural world. I cant wait for Sam Rivers next assignment.
Mindy Mejia, author of Everything You Want Me to Be and Strike Me Down

Griffith is a fluent student of the Minnesota outdoors. His detailed storytelling makes the rugged landscape come alive, becoming a major character in his writings. And Griffiths popular creation, Sam Rivers, is a striking star, handsome, playful and deeply knowledgeable in his field. Turns out hes not so bad at unraveling the darker side of human nature, too.
Ginny Greene, Star Tribune

Sam Rivers is a welcome addition tothe growing list of crime fiction protagonists by Minnesota writers. His love of nature and creatures, even predators, permeates the plot.
Mary Ann Grossman, Pioneer Press

Author Bio

Award-winning author Cary J. Griffith grew up among the woods, fields, and emerald waters of eastern Iowa. His childhood fostered a lifelong love of wild places. He earned a B.A. in English from the University of Iowa and an M.A. in library science from the University of Minnesota.

Griffiths books explore the natural world. In nonfiction, he covers the borderlands between civilization and wild places. In fiction, he focuses on the ways some people use flora and fauna to commit crimes, while others with more reverence and understanding of the natural world leverage their knowledge to bring criminals to justice. In both genres, readers are likely to learn something about our relationship to the natural world and the creatures who inhabit it.

I was 14 the first time I visited the lakes and boreal forests of northeastern Minnesota, says Griffith, and its beauty struck me.

Griffith is also the author ofWolf Kill, Gunflint Burning, Lost in the Wild, andOpening Goliath. He lives with his family in a suburb of Minnesotas Twin Cities.