I really enjoyed this book. It kept me intrigued and invested from start to finish! Hard to believe this is someone’s DEBUT!

Northwoods is a debut mystery that takes readers to a small Wisconsin tourist town. The setting is perfect for a police procedural - there is the small county sheriff's department, the outside help they must bring to help solve the crime, plus the locals and tourists who provide plenty of who-done-it options. Some of the themes show up reasonably often in modern crime novels. For example - the drunk, PTSD-suffering veteran turned detective. Readers may find this trope overused, but I liked Eli, and his back story leaves a lot of options for future character development. I will watch for the next addition - I hope there will be one.

If you want an engaging crime novel and enjoy remote, small-town settings, consider picking up Northwoods - it will fit the bill.

Thanks to NetGalley for an electronic ARC in exchange for a review.

Thanks to the publishers & Netgalley for my review copy! I'm not a huge fan of police procedurals anymore, so this wasn't a great read for me. However, I am going to assess it based on the content, rather than my own reading preferences, because it is a good book.. This book is not an easy read; it explores some dark areas of depression, PTSD, addiction and the opioid crisis. If those areas are triggering to you, I would not recommend this book. I loved that the author did include trigger warnings in this ARC, and I hope that it stays in for the final version. I love the location of Northern Wisconsin as that isn't an area you read too much about. I've spent a good chunk of my life in the Northwoods, so I could really imagine myself in the setting as I was reading. I would recommend this book to fans of police procedurals, character studies, exploring addiction & the opioid crisis.

This was a compelling read, that I found I did not want to put down! Great, multi-faceted characters. Very interesting plot. Vivid descriptions. Suspenseful and thrilling. I felt every emotion. Kept me intrigued from the first page to the last. Simply a GREAT read!

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

Set in the wake of the opioid epidemic in a backwoods Wisconsin tourist town, NORTHWOODS follows officer Eli North, an Afghanistan veteran as he investigates a murder of a local teenage boy and the disappearance of a tourist teenage girl.

Amy Pease handles PTSD and addiction so thoughtfully. My heart broke for Eli as he desperately tried to hold on to his broken relationships and fledgling career. With timely themes and an immersive setting, NORTHWOODS is a solid mystery debut.

READ THIS IF:
-You enjoy storylines that realistically portray aspects of addiction
-Northern Minnesota settings appeal to you (think William Kent Kreuger)
-Mother-Son relationships draw you in

RATING: 4/5 stars
PUB DATE: January 9, 2024

Many thanks to Atria for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Always a sucker for an atmospheric literary procedural with a down-and-out protagonist who has a well-developed backstory to make you really get behind him despite some iffy choices - and this one delivered for me in the character of Eli - part of a small-town sheriff's department in a Wisconsin who is coping with PTSD from his time in Afghanistan and the struggles of re-entry into life with his (now estranged) wife and kid - and with the idyllic woodsy and lake setting of this resort town. When a teenager is found murdered, this understaffed department is sent reeling in trying to figure out what happened, and how it connects to a larger picture of opioid addictions and corruption. Generally I thought the pacing was great, on par with the types of atmospheric literary mysteries I like (think Jane Harper, Tana French), though I thought it was a bit off at times, partly in relation to how slowly it felt like the characters were reacting to the fact of a missing teenage girl revealed soon after the boy's body was found. And while I liked Eli's character and smarts and backstory, his mental state (and substance abuse) was pretty dark at times, more so than some of the protagonists of similar books, which made it feel a bit like there was never going to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

What made this one stand out in comparison to some of my other favorite literary mysteries: I loved the Midwest setting as something close-to-home and familiar (also deserves the comparisons to work of William Kent Kreuger in this regard), how the parent/child law enforcement work relationship came into, but this time with a mother/son relationship rather than the usual father/son you might expect to see, which really gave it a different emotional angle (and to be honest, I might have rooted for Marge even more than for Eli - she was great); and the way it investigated not just the opioid epidemic in terms of drug addition but also in terms of the corruption of pharmaceutical companies and CEOs.

Beyond the Jane Harper/Tana French mentions, I'd also recommend it for fans of Long Bright River given the opioid crisis angle to the mystery.

I liked the plot and storyline of this one. It had a good pace and enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. It had some creep factor and suspense. The part that lost stars for me was that I had a really hard time relating to or even liking the characters. I didn’t feel I got a good sense of them and didn’t really feel for them.
Aside from that it was a good read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Emily Bestler Books/Atria Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this stellar debut police procedural by Amy Pease.

I was actually blown away by the fact that this book was a debut effort by Amy Pease It was so assuredly written that I was immediately drawn in and had a hard time pulling myself away when life interrupted.

This book had it all A flawed Afghanistan vet with severe PTSD that on occasion renders him incapable of doing his job and yes, he drinks to self-medicate. He's a sheriff's deputy and his mom is the sheriff, who is compassionate but frank. His coworkers not so much, along with one that is corrupted - have fun figuring out who that is. The town has literally no budget for the department, an opioid problem and a murdered teenager and his friend that's missing and you are off. The Wisconsin setting is perfect and add in a great FBI agent and you have the makings of a page turner.

I sincerely hope that this is the beginning of a series, and this book has definitely added Amy Pease to my list of "must buy" authors.

Eli North is not okay.

And so we begin. Eli has a drinking problem. He is self-medicating the damage done in Afghanistan. Career and Wife are gone. And in a surprising turn, the only job he is qualified for is with the Sheriff’s Department. His qualification is his mother, who is the sheriff.

The northern part of Wisconsin is no stranger to the opiod epidemic.And with a paltry budget, things are difficult.

Drugs have turned to murder.As a teenager is found dead, the investigation will lead him to a real mess.

Will he redeem himself? Well, this was a good story, with good characters, such as his mom! Very well done!
NetGalley/ Atria/Emily Bestler Books, January 09, 2024

This was a great book. A good mix of character development alongside the development of the mystery. Probably 4.5 stars, I feel like the ending didn’t fully wrap things up.

Eli was an intriguing character and my heart went out to him. He has ptsd from his time in the military and uses alcohol to self medicate. He would have trouble getting a job but since his mother is the local sheriff, he works for her. When a murder takes place this just might be the motivation he needs.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Eli North is on the police force at Shaky Lake, a resort town in the north woods of Wisconsin that was suffering from the ravages of America’s opioid epidemic. Eli worked for his mother Marge, who was the sheriff with a very small budget and only two other employees, Jake and Phil.

Eli used to be an elite investigator with the prestigious US Fish and Wildlife Service, but since a stint in Afghanistan, followed by crippling PTSD and subsequent alcoholism, he lost his job, his family - which included his wife and an 11-year-old son Andy - his bearings, and his reason to live. Marge had given him the only job he could hold, but he had only just barely been doing so (mostly while drunk) for the past six months.

Breaking up bar fights and rescuing the addicted from overdoses formed the usual scope of their duties, until Eli discovered the body of a 16-year-old teen, Ben Sharpe, in a boat in front of one of the cabins. Moreover, the girl Ben had been fishing with, Caitlin Wallace, was missing. Caitlin was the daughter of Calvin Wallace, a drug rep for Orion Pharmaceuticals, and it soon unfolded that Calvin was missing as well. It seemed that something bigger was going on than just Ben’s death.

Because a child was missing, the FBI agreed to help out, and sent an agent from Chicago, Alyssa Mason.

Eli desperately needed help for his PTSD and drinking, and he desperately needed redemption. The community at large desperately needed rescuing from the greed and rapaciousness of those involved in the “industry” of addiction.

Evaluation: I was very impressed with this atmospheric crime novel. It definitely will appeal to fans of the writing of John Hart, Wiley Cash, and William Kent Krueger. The ending left room for the possibility of another installment about the lives of those surviving the tense denouement of the story.

A very accomplished debut. Really enjoyed this police procedural set in small town Wisconsin. One of the leads is a damaged, alcoholic cop (Eli) but Pease manages to bring a fresh perspective to the trope, documenting his trauma from military service, the impact on his marriage and fatherhood, and, most interestingly, the strain on his relationship with the Sheriff of his small town. A sheriff, Marge, who also happens to be Eli's mother. The dynamic between the two is one of the highlights of the book. As are the tertiary characters like Alyssa, an FBI agent brought in to assist when a young boy is found murdered at a local resort and the young girl last seen with him is missing. I did guess one of the culprits, but that did not take away from my enjoyment. I look forward to what Pease has to offer in the future.

A procedural taking place in a summer resort in Wisconsin. I especially loved the voice of Eli, the police investigator, who is also fighting alcoholism and PTSD. The book is well written, and as more secrets are revealed it only becomes more interesting. The opioid epidemic features heavily into this and makes what should be a wholesome summer getaway turn into a nightmare.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.

Northwoods by Amy Pease is a good book! There is a mystery to solve with family drama and crime plus a tormented, once capable but now shattered, vet. A vibrant setting and constant action make for a great read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Eli, our protagonist, is former Military and suffering from PTSD. His cure is to stay drunk. He is working as a Deputy Sheriff (his Mother is the Sheriff) in a small town that is a summer resort. One night he finds a teen aged boy’s remains in a lakeside fishing boat. The investigation leads to a missing teen aged girl. The entire Sheriff’s Department consists of four people. Most tolerate Eli because of his history, however his marriage has fallen apart to the point where he has moved into his own apartment and he is deteriorating to the point of no return. Then an FBI agent from Chicago comes into their town to assist. Eli learns about the opioid epidemic in his town. He also begins to see himself more clearly. It is an excellently written procedural with massive amounts of psychological trauma in a plot that is continually twisting. Thanks to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC for an honest review.

This was a fast paced mystery. It kept my attention and I enjoyed it though at times I felt like some information was missing and I would have liked a bit more detail.
This was a good debut and I look forward to read more from the author.

When the body of a teenage boy is found in the bottom of a boat tied up to a dock at a summer lake camp, the local police department is under-equipped to handle the investigation. When it is discovered that a teenage girl was with him that day and that she is now missing, the FBI gets called in to help. With a Sheriff's department consisting of just four officers, Sheriff Marge is relying upon her son, Eli to help her solve these crimes. Eli has demons from his past though that prevent him from fully functioning as either a police officer, husband or father and instead lead him back to the bottle each day. Exploring the subjects of PTSD, alcoholism, addiction and mental illness, author Pease weaves these conditions into believable and sympathetic characters. Although the ending seems a bit rushed and leaves a few character's stories dangling, the overall story is intriguing and enjoyable. Recommended for fans of mysteries and suspense stories.

I loved this moody, atmospheric and dark debut novel. I appreciated that the main character had serious flaws but was still relatable and the storyline was engaging. Can't wait to recommend this to others!

alcohol-issues, local-law-enforcement, missing-persons, murder-investigation, Northwoods, cooperation, drugs-issues, friendship, friends, family, family-dynamics, FBI, PTSD, suspense, scars, second-chance, self-destructive-behaviors, self-worth-issues, secrets, lies, unputdownable, small-town, rural, tourist-town, family-drama*****

A wild ride of a debut!
Like most departments today, the sheriff's department in this out-of-the-way part of the Northwoods is woefully underfunded and understaffed. Always a problem, but when one teenager is found murdered and another goes missing, even the feds need to be called in. The department only has three deputies plus the sheriff, and one of those deputies seems to be going under from the weight of PTSD and life in general. This is an honest book of fiction that cuts close to the bone.
Caveat: I am an RN retired from the inner city in Wisconsin with family ties all the way to Duluth.
I requested and received a temporary e-galley from Atria/Emily Bestler Books via NetGalley.