Glacier Park Mystery

For fans of Louise Penny, C. J. Box, and Nevada Barr comes a haunting crime novel set in Glacier National Park, where one man finds himself on a collision course with the dark heart of the wild and the even darker heart of human nature. It was a clear, starry night in Glacier National Park. Fourteen-year-old Ted Systead and his father were camping peacefully beneath the rugged peaks and sweeping sky when the unimaginable happened, Ted's father was mauled by a grizzly bear and dragged to his death. Now, twenty years later, as special agent for the Department of the Interior, Ted is called back to investigate a crime that echoes the horror of that night. Only this time, the victim was tied to a tree before the animal's attack. Ted teams up with one of the park officers-a man named Monty, whose pleasant exterior masks an all-too-vivid knowledge of the area. Residents of the nearby community are less than forthcoming. Suspicious of outsiders and intimately connected to the wilderness that surrounds them, they confront their fellow man and nature with equal measures of reverence and brutality. As the days pass with no clear answers, not only is human life at stake, so too is that of a majestic creature who carries with it valuable evidence. Ted's search for truth takes him far into the wilderness, on the trail of a killer, and eventually to a shocking and unexpectedly personal conclusion. Rich in atmosphere and evocative, lush descriptions, The Wild Inside is a gripping debut novel about the wondrously perilous intersection between man and nature.

A wildlife biologist's shocking death leads to chilling discoveries in Christine Carbo's haunting and compelling new crime novel set in the wilds of Glacier National Park.Glacier National Park police officer Monty Harris knows that each summer at least one person-be it a reckless, arrogant climber or a distracted hiker-will meet tragedy in the park. But Paul "Wolfie" Sedgewick's fatal fall from the sheer cliffs near Going-to-the-Sun Road is incomprehensible. Wolfie was an experienced and highly regarded wildlife biologist who knew all too well the perils that Glacier's treacherous terrain presents-and how to avoid them.The case, so close to home, has frayed park employee emotions. Yet calm and methodical lead investigator Monty senses in his gut that something isn't right. So when whispers of irresponsibility or suicide emerge, tarnishing Wolfie's reputation, Monty dedicates himself to uncovering the truth, for the sake of the man's family and to satisfy his own persistent sense of unease.Monty discovers that Wolfie's zealous studies of Glacier's mysterious, embattled wolverine population, so vital to park ecology, had met resistance, both local and federal. To muddy the waters further, a wilderness facility for rehabilitating troubled teens-one that Monty's older brother attended-may have a disturbing connection to the case. As Monty delves further into an investigation that goes deeper than he ever imagined, he wrestles with the demons of his past, which lead back to harsh betrayals he thought he'd buried long ago.And then a second body is found.

In a land sculpted by glaciers, the forest is on fire. Thick smoke chokes the mountain air and casts a twilight glow over the imposing mountains and vistas of Montana's Glacier National Park. When firefighters are called in to dig fuel line breaks near the small town bordering the park, a crew member is shocked to unearth a shallow grave containing human remains. Park police officer Monty Harris is summoned to the site to conduct an excavation. But with a 2,500-degree incendiary monster threatening to barrel through the town and no forensic detective on hand, Monty must work outside protocol. So he seeks help from Gretchen Larson, the county's lead crime scene investigator, and someone on whom Monty feels he can rely. The two are working against the clock to determine the true identity of the victim, when a teenager suddenly disappears from one of the campgrounds in Glacier. Could the cases somehow be connected? As chances for recovery of the missing boy grow slimmer, and the FBI finds only dead ends, Gretchen and Monty desperately race to fit all the pieces together in time. The Weight of Night is Christine Carbo's latest book in a series which paints a moving picture of complex, flawed people fighting to make their way in a wilderness where little is black or white. This gripping thriller is a tribute to the power of family, set against one of America's most majestic and unforgiving landscapes.