—What I Am Reading Now Department: A Death in Eden

A Death in Eden is the seventh of the Sean Stranahan mystery stories. There are six published before this one. 

Sean is an outdoorsman and watercolorist who hangs out his shingle as a private detective. He is not a native Montanan. Keith deliberately chose to have Sean come from out of state in order to show Montana through fresh eyes. Keith McCafferty's experience in the outdoors and as a long-time contributor to Field and Stream influenced the series early on. As Keith says, he likes to create characters with whom he would like to hang out. Keith is an expert angler, and Sean is, too. The first book in the series is The Royal Wulff Murders, is named for a very successful dry fly used for trout fishing and the book had an image of a Royal Wulff fly on its cover.

The greatest number of McCafferty's readers are women, most of whom do not fish. Over time, the amount of fishing described in the stories has declined but there is always an image of a fly on the covers. For A Death in Eden the iconic fly is the Usual Suspect, a traditional Swedish pattern.

A Death in Eden is set on the Smith River and some of its tension is based in a real controversy about a copper mine going in close to this extremely popular but as yet pristine area. The Smith is so popular that it has long been necessary to limit the number of visitors by requiring a permit to float the river, the permits only available by winning a lottery. Other tension is implied in the use of "Eden" in the title. The title refers to the name of the famous float people take on the Smith, and it points to McCafferty's subtly use of imagery drawn from the Bible's Book of Genesis.

I like this book although I am not automatically part of what one might consider to be its core audience. I am not a great fan of mysteries, and I am not a fisherman, but Keith creates characters I like and I like spending some time with them. I like it because I like a good book and I love our regional literature. Keith is a fine writer, he is knowledgeable, and he has a good imagination. He describes our region well, and I like that, too. His books have very broad appeal. 

I asked Keith if it is necessary to read the books in the series in order, beginning with the first. The answer is "no," the books are sequential, but the each book provides enough context so that you can read it without referring to any of the others.

A Death in Eden is appropriate for general mystery readers, or for those who appreciate regional fiction, or for sports-oriented readers.