Full disclosure: This was a book that my manager asked the publisher for on my behalf, despite me telling her not to.

This was a pleasantly satisfying mystery with bonus cryptid content! It’s tightly written and plotted, just as long as it needed to be, and it goes in some interesting directions. I was not expecting as much actual science fact as I got, for instance, or as much nuance when it came to Bigfoot believers. It wasn’t a perfect book (see below) but it was entertaining and I’m hooked enough to look for the sequel when it comes out.

While Dupuis is honestly great at setting, and good at sketching out secondary characters, mannerisms, voice, and all, I found Laura, our narrator/sleuth, to be kind of bland. She’s distinct enough to be her own person, but I never got a real sense of who she was, just what she was interested in or was doing at the moment, with enough backstory to explain her presence in the story. Otherwise, she was just kind of there to be the protagonist, if that makes sense?

The other thing that said “debut novel” is some plotting quirks. For the most part, I liked that this followed the usual mystery beats but never really felt like it did, and that Dupuis continues that off-beatness with the obligatory romantic subplot. (Okay, maybe especially that.) I also liked that there was a missing person and a murder and the question of Bigfoot, so that I was constantly guessing on some front. But it did also feel like some things got dropped in favour of others, most notably that Laura’s partly there to support the missing researcher’s wife but then she’s driving around town instead of keeping her company or even checking in at night.

All in all, this was a well-done mystery that, for its flaws, was just good enough to keep me going, though I’m not sure that would still be the case if “cryptids” and “cozy mystery” weren’t both so much my thing. It’s a good small-press debut, I have hopes for the sequel, and I’m actually glad my boss ignored me because I enjoyed the read.

To bear in mind: may be somewhat dodgy on the mental illness front but I’m not versed enough in the issues with the specific rep to truly weigh in
6.5/10 ( )

Roanoke Ridge by J.J. Dupuis is a recommended mystery and the first book in the start of a new series.

Laura Reagan is the owner of a popular website called Science Is Awesome. Science IA strives to cover news worthy science topics with reality and facts, including cryptozoological investigations. This is in contrast to Laura's upbringing by her father who famously filmed a distant shot of a Sasquatch and child in the woods at Roanoke Ridge, Oregon. Now Laura's mentor, relative, and Bigfoot researcher Professor Berton Sorel has gone missing right as the annual Roanoke Valley Bigfoot Festival is about to start. Laura and her friend Saad Javed (who knows the difference between hard science and pseudoscience) are going to Roanoke Ridge to help search for Professor Sorel and maybe uncover the facts behind the recent Bigfoot sightings. When the search and rescue operation results in the body of a notorious Bigfoot hoaxer being found, and not the Professor's, the investigation expands.

The mystery is straightforward so don't expect heart-stopping action or a tension filled plot. The pace is slow and sometimes meandering, but the book is short so it is a quick read. While there are sentences and descriptions that shine, other parts of the narrative are pedestrian, which left me feeling that the writing in Roanoke Ridge is competent, but not exceptional. Be prepared for several long lectures included in the novel, some of which may be insulting to readers. Those lectures actually are a big impairment to the narrative. Chapters open with quotes over the years from various sources about Bigfoot or Sasquatch sightings, which add an interesting touch. The ending does feel rushed.

Admittedly any mystery involving Bigfoot would immediately draw my attention if simply for the novelty and kitsch factor. The idea of this being part of a series of creature mysteries is intriguing, but I'm uncertain if I will read another novel in the series. Laura is the only character who receives sufficient development but I'm not sure she is appealing enough to carry a whole series. The other characters are all caricatures representing different stereotypical types of people. Laura simply wasn't an interesting or appealing enough character to subject myself to wading through more thought lectures embedded in the plot, however reading another book in the series might be based more on what creature is sought.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Dundurn Press.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2020/03/roanoke-ridge.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3252552315 ( )

A celebrated professor and Bigfoot researcher goes missing in the vast wilderness of Oregon. The presence of his former student and owner of a popular science based website, Laura Reagan, has arrived to help find him. When a dead body is discovered following sightings of Bigfoot Laura dives in deep to discover the secrets of Roanoke Ridge and inadvertently her own history. Her hope is to find the professor before he becomes another casualty of the forest.

This was a fun book to read as I've always loved folklore creatures and after living in the Pacific Northwest for a few years I can see why the environment still breathes life into the lore surrounding Sasquatch/Bigfoot. The wooded areas are entirely different than that of my native Colorado - our trees do not grow so dense you can barely see through them during the day. For me Roanoke Ridge was more of a murder mystery with a folklore background. It was clean, moderately paced and enjoyable. The conclusion of the book did feel a bit rushed while the rest of the book had a slower pace.

There are two other novels slated for release in the Creature X Mystery series and I can honestly say that I'm interested to see what they'll be. I'm curious to see if Laura makes an appearance and if it has anything to do with the ending of this novel and the deal she struck for her website. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy suspense, murder mystery and folklore. Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for a copy of this book to read and review. ( )

This is another Dundurn book, and I have to say that Dundurn remains one of my favorite publishers, particularly in the mystery genre. Dundurn's detectives are a quirky, diverse group, and I keep finding myself hoping that titles will become series (or that series will be extended) because I want to spend time with these new "friends." For that reason, I'm delighted that Roanoke Ridge is subtitled to indicate it won't be a one-off.

Laura Reagan, the central character of Roanoke Ridge, is a science blogger and the daughter of a well-known bigfoot hunter. Laura's blog focuses on myth-busting, so when she attends a bigfoot celebration to investigate the disappearance of a former professor and mentor, we have a perspective that is both critical (blogger) and sympathetic (father's daughter). Laura is accompanied by her best friend Saad, a computer whiz originally from Pakistan.

The bigfoot celebration draws all sorts of believers and "believers": an unscrupulous hoaxer; a friendly Brit who loves dissecting bits of Bigfoot research; a grad student studying bigfoot, whose real agenda is using her data to demonstrate the reality of climate change to an audience generally hostile to mainstream science; and more.

The central mystery here works well enough, but the real heart of the book is the characters. I'll be checking the Dundurn catalogue regularly to see when I'll next be able to spend time with Laura Reagan.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions are my own. ( )