Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley

We’ve all been in upper Michigan towns like Starvation Lake – formerly prosperous communities on lakes that are now barely getting by on the income from summer traffic. Starvation Lake’s most recent run at fame had been a very successful hockey program run by Coach Blackburn. After his death in what everyone assumed was a snowmobile accident, the talk in the bars was often about those glory years when they missed a state championship by one goal.
The editor of the local paper, Gus Carpenter, was the goalie on that team and everyone’s favorite scapegoat in the years since. His blossoming career at the Detroit Times fizzled when he refused to reveal a source on a big story about the auto industry. Back in his hometown, he finds the town still holding a grudge and Coach Blackburn’s death looking more like murder.

It’s always fun to read about places you’ve been and Gruley, the Chicago Bureau Chief for The Wall Street Journal, perfectly catches the flavor of small town Michigan and gives an insider’s perspective on journalism in his twist-filled debut mystery.

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