Death in Cold Water

by Patricia Skalka

Overview

On a bracing autumn day in Door County, a prominent philanthropist disappears. Is the elderly Gerald Sneider—known as "Mr. Packer" for his legendary support of Green Bay football—suffering from dementia or just avoiding his greedy son? Is there a connection to threats against the National Football League? As tourists flood the peninsula for the fall colors, Sheriff Dave Cubiak's search for Sneider is stymied by the FBI. When human bones wash up on the Lake Michigan shore, the sheriff has more to worry about than a missing man.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780299309244
Publisher:	University of Wisconsin Press
Publication date:	12/12/2018
Series:	A Dave Cubiak Door County Mystery
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	187,553
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Patricia Skalka is the author of Death Stalks Door County, Death at Gills Rock, and Death Rides the Ferry, the fourth book in the Dave Cubiak Door County Mystery series. She is president of the Chicagoland chapter of Sisters in Crime and divides her time between Chicago and Door County, Wisconsin. A former staff writer at Reader's Digest, she presents writing workshops throughout the United States.

Editorial Reviews

08/22/2016
Sheriff Dave Cubiak investigates the disappearance of wealthy 82-year-old Gerald Sneider, an avid Green Bay Packer fan known as Mr. Packer, in Skalka’s tangled third mystery set in Wisconsin’s Door County (after 2015’s Death Stalks Door County). A search of Sneider’s home finds a cryptic note: “Pay or he dies”; a similar message turns up at the Packers’ office in Green Bay, prompting a call to Cubiak from FBI special agent Quigley Moore. Although Cubiak is nominally in charge of what the authorities are treating as a kidnapping case, Moore and his assistant agent, Gwen Harrison, virtually take over. Meanwhile, Cubiak becomes interested in an old human bone fragment that his dog discovers on the beach. Further messages from the kidnapper increase the pressure on law-enforcement to break the case. Cubiak talks to a lot of people to find the key to unlock past and present crimes in this competently written tale. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Skalka has created magic with this excellent police procedural. She confronts Sheriff Dave Cubiak with a kidnapping, snakes, and even a bag of nearly drowned kittens, deftly brought together in crisp, evocative prose. A great read!”—Libby Fischer Hellman, author of Jump Cut


“Patricia Skalka has pulled off the near impossible—a tale of grisly murder filled with moments of breathtaking beauty. This is a story wise in its understanding of both the best and the worst of human nature. Sheriff Dave Cubiak is the kind of decent protagonist too seldom seen in modern mystery novels, a hero well worth rooting for. And the icing on the cake is the stunning backdrop of Door County, Wisconsin.  Another fine novel in a series that is sure to satisfy even the most demanding reader.”—William Kent Krueger, author of Windigo Island


“When philanthropist and major donor to the Green Bay Packers football team Gerald Sneider is kidnapped, the FBI wants to pin it on either terrorists who have been threatening the NFL or the millionaire’s debt-ridden son. . . . Starring a tenacious cop who earns every ounce of respect he receives.” —Booklist


“One of the key scenes . . . is a wonderfully realistic description of a dangerous and challenging scuba diving expedition search in the lake. . . . A fast-paced story [with] a final, satisfying conclusion.”—Mystery Scene

From the Publisher