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Monster Hunter Mysteries #3
by Annelise Ryan
When a local fisherman is mauled to death, it seems like the only possible cause is a mythical creature in the latest puzzling entry in this USA Today bestselling series.
An ice fisherman is savagely mauled to death in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, and an eyewitness claims the man was attacked by a hodag. There's just one problem with that: it's well known that the creature is not real and was created by a local hoaxer. So how could an imaginary creature be chomping on local sportsmen?
The suggestion that a hodag killed someone isn't well received by the townsfolk because of its beloved ties to the town and the money it generates from tourist dollars. Due to this, people begin to suspect the witness is the real killer, especially when it's discovered he has a tangled past with the victim.
The witness to the attack happens to be the nephew of Morgan Carter's bookstore employee, Rita Bosworth, who convinces the professional cryptozoologist to travel to Wisconsin to prove that a hodag not only exists but killed the victim.
Clues may be hard to come by, but one thing's for sure: something killed that man, and that something now has its eyes focused on Morgan.
BookBrowsers Ask Annelise Ryan, author of the Monster Hunter mystery series
I normally ask our visiting authors to tell us a bit about themselves, and then we pepper them with questions. In this case, I found that Annelise (aka Beth) had already posted an entertaining intro https://bethamos.com/ on her website that addresses many of the questions we'd typically ask. To a...
-kim.kovacs
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (3/5/2026)
I started the week with Annelise Ryan's Working Stiff. She's the author of the Monster Hunter series (we discussed her https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/19780/beast-of-the-north-woods Beast of the North Woods not that long ago). Working Stiff is the first ...
-kim.kovacs
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (2/26/2026)
Let's see… I finished up a reread of https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/5076/buckeye Buckeye by Patrick Ryan for a book group. Really excellent fiction. Someone complained to me some time ago that there aren't that many "normal books" getting published anymore, that everythi...
-kim.kovacs
Annelise Ryan is a penname for Beth Amos. She’s also published under Allyson K. Abbott. Have you read any other books by this author, and if so, which ones? How did they compare to The Beast of the North Woods?
I have not read any books under her other pen names. But I'm always fascinated by the different approaches used even in similar genres. Example: I did not know for some years that Barbara Vine was a pen named for Ruth Rendell. I read Barbara Vine first and initially felt that the Vine Books spoke...
-Vivian_H
Had you heard of a hodag or a cryptozoologist before reading the book?
Only because I read the Door County book of Annelise Ryan's, otherwise, I never heard of the term. I would put it in the Ghostbuster's category, and not looked for "documentaries" on the topic. But, as a Just for Fun book, I enjoyed the wacky topic. The thing that actually scares me is creepy peo...
-Karen_K
Overall, what did you think of The Beast of the North Woods? (no spoilers, please!)
I got that book as a freebie from Bookbrowse because I had read the Door County set book she wrote previously. I enjoy a light mystery once in a while and this fit the bill. Her books are funny and have lots of interesting characters and I love the main character Morgan. I grew up in Wisconsin an...
-Karen_K
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (11/20/2025)
...The Forgotten Book Club by Kate Storey, and https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/19780/beast-of-the-north-woods Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan. Still listening to https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/21144/king-of-ashes King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby. Hopin...
-kim.kovacs
About the Beast of the North Woods Discussion category
...lease join BookBrowse for our discussion of https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/19780/beast-of-the-north-woods Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan.
-kim.kovacs
What are you reading this week? (11-21-2024)
I started The Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan a couple of days ago, but I'm not too far along. Next up will be The Memory Library by Kate Storey.
-kim.kovacs
What are you reading this week? (2024-10-31)
I'm reading Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan this week - I received it as part of BookBrowse's First Impressions program.
-HannahT
"Ryan once again delivers the goods, serving up a cheeky, atmospheric investigation that goes down as smoothly as an episode of Scooby-Doo but with far more narrative intricacy. This series continues to impress." —Publishers Weekly
"Neatly combines the codes of real-world homicide investigation and of tales of beasts from the dark side." —Kirkus Reviews
This information about Beast of the North Woods was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Annelise Ryan is the USA Today bestselling author of multiple mystery series, including the Mattie Winston Mysteries. A retired ER nurse, she now writes full-time from her Wisconsin home.

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