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. Griffith’s 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.” He lives with his family in a suburb of Minnesota’s Twin Cities.When the mysterious appearance of an endangered snake leads to murder, special agent Sam Rivers must solve the case before those responsible can slither away.
The appearance of a rattlesnake wouldn’t normally be enough to halt construction on Alta Vista, an upscale housing development in Southeast Minnesota’s bluff country. But this is no ordinary reptile; it’s a rare eastern massasauga rattlesnake (EMR). The endangered snake has not been seen in the region for more than two decades, so Sam Rivers is called in. As a special agent of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Sam takes his responsibilities seriously—especially when it comes to protecting endangered species and their habitats. If he finds EMR dens on the construction site, he’ll close it permanently.
While the developers protest in outrage, Sam enlists the help of herpetologist Gina Larkspur from the Department of Natural Resources. Together, they begin to find anomalies that call the entire situation into question. When Sam’s wolfdog, Gray, tries sniff out the EMR dens, it isn’t rattlesnakes he finds. Instead, Gray discovers the remnants of a terrible, 25-year-old crime. Were the endangered species merely pawns in a diabolical coverup? As Sam searches for the truth, bodies begin to pile up. He and his team must race to find answers before more innocents die.
Natural history writer Cary J. Griffith brings back Sam Rivers for his fifth outdoors-themed mystery—a suspenseful novel filled with fast-paced action.
Blurbs about Rattlesnake Bluff
“Special Agent Sam Rivers finds himself on the endangered species list in this rollicking
page-turner.” —Jeffrey B. Burton, award-winning author of The Second Grave, The Dead Years,
and the Mace Reid K-9 Mysteries
“Cary J. Griffin is a master of suspenseful and rugged outdoors adventures. In Rattlesnake
Bluff, his latest Sam Rivers Mystery, he pits the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services special agent
against a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to keep a 25-year-old cold case buried. The
author’s knowledge of both his setting and endangered wildlife—this time, deadly
rattlesnakes—is once again on full display. Lovers of wildlife mysteries will not be
disappointed.” —Lois Winston, best-selling and award-winning author of the Anastasia Pollack
Crafting Mysteries
“Cary J. Griffith is a master creator of edge-of-your-seat outdoors mysteries. Rattlesnake Bluff
kicks off with a haunting cold case that will rattle the reader. When two children go missing, all
the leads are dead ends. No one knows the truth about what happened to the kids except the
twisted murderer. Twenty-five years later, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Special Agent Sam Rivers and
his sidekick, Gray, a wolf-dog hybrid, are drawn into the haunting case when a rare rattlesnake is
discovered in an area ready for development. The snake will lead Rivers and Gray to more
sinister murders as the past comes full circle and ends with ultimate satisfying karma for a cold-
blooded killer. I highly recommend the Sam Rivers Mystery series for anyone who loves an
intricate mystery, a fantastic K-9 officer, and characters you will root for—especially Sam Rivers
and Gray.” —Kathleen Donnelly, Retired K-9 handler and award-winning author of the National
Forest K-9 Series
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