Earth Day Mysteries

Sandi Ault Wild Inferno (2008)

In the sequel to Wild Indigo, Bureau of Land Management agent Jamaica Wild is sent in to assist at a wildfire on the Southern Ute reservation, where she encounters a burning man whose final plea sends her on a quest to unravel a mystery more dangerous than mere murder.

Nevada Barr Track of the Cat (1993)

Fleeing New York to find refuge as a ranger in the remote backcountry of West Texas, Anna Pigeon stumbles into a web of violence and murder when fellow park ranger Sheila Drury is mysteriously killed and another ranger vanishes. First in the outstanding Anna Pigeon series.

Donald J Bingle, GreensWord (2009)

Zeke, Milo, and Brandon, members of a tiny ecoprotest group called GreensWord, aim to stop global warming before the beach house of their prime (and only) benefactor, actor Matthew Barrington, slides into the ocean. When Barrington threatens to cut off their funding, the enterprising trio steps up its timetable and changes its agenda from painting the roofs of houses white to deflect the sun's heat to a plan that rivals the worst nightmares of everyone living in the nuclear age.

C J Box Winterkill (2003)

The arrow-riddled corpse of Lamar Gardiner, district supervisor for the Twelve Sleep National Forest, and the bodies of seven illegally shot elk start Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett on a pursuit that endangers the life of his beloved foster daughter April.

Rex Burns Endangered Species (1993)

When an unrecognizably charred body is found at the scene of a fire, Gabe Wager must team up with the FBI in order to track down the guerilla environmentalist who may be responsible.

Aaron J Elkins The Dark Place (1983)

Professor Gideon Oliver journeys to the Olympic rain forest to help identify the skeleton of a missing hiker, a man killed by a most unusual, prehistoric weapon.

G M Ford Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca? (1995)

The plot of this sweaty adventure, Ford's fine first effort, is mostly a vehicle for its hero, a wisecracking PI who may be living in the suave Seattle of the 1990s but whose spirit harks back to the 1930s and '40s when men were men, women were dames and coffee was joe. Leo Waterman is hired by mobster Tim Flood to look after his granddaughter, who has fallen in with an extremist environmental group that's on a collision course with the law.

Clare Francis The Killing Winds (1992)

Daisy Field, an idealistic environmental journalist, does her best to fight the world's most powerful agrochemical corporation, which will go to any lengths to cover up its role in the death of a rock star's wife.

Matthew Glass Ultimatum (2009)

In this near-future thriller, Joe Benton, the newly elected president of the U.S., is shocked to learn that his predecessor's administration has been knowingly underreporting the catastrophic effects of global warming. In truth, the world is dangerously close to disaster, forcing Benton to find a way to broker an accord between the world s worst polluter, China, and the U.S. But can the new president forge a path to peace with the U.S.'s old enemy? Fans of political thrillers will flock to this one, which combines realistic characters with shrewd political and environmental commentary.

Robert O Greer The Devil's Hatband (1996)

While searching for a prominent judge's daughter, African-American bounty hunter C. F. Floyd clashes with a radical environmental group whose plan to ban cattle from federal lands is only a front for dirty deeds.

Joseph Heywood Blue Wolf in Green Fire (2002)

Conservation officer Grady Service has his hands full when a campaign by a group of animal-rights activists gets out of hand and two people are found murdered at a wolf lab.

Carl Hiaasen Skinny Dip (2004)

Doctoring water samples to help his corrupt agribusiness employer continue illegal dumping in the Everglades, biologist Chaz Perrone attempts to murder his wife, who has figured out his scam and survives to plot her husband's downfall.

John Hockenberry A River out of Eden (2001)

A U.S government marine biologist and Chinok Indian, Francine Smoholla is fighting to protect Washington's supply of salmon from the dams, but when power company workers and Forest Service employees start turning up dead with native harpoons in their backs, Francine quietly begins her own investigation.

John Holt Hunted (2003)

The author of Coyote Nowhere: In Search of America's Last Frontier serves up a powerful novel about corporate greed in the High Plains region as a coal strip-mining operation takes over a ranching town in southeastern Montana, igniting a fierce battle between rancher Joe Graves and the Dark Star corporation.

Mary Ellen Hughes A Taste of Death (2003)

Maggie Olenski, a children's book author and amateur sleuth, heads for picturesque Cedar Hill, New Hampshire, to complete a book and do a little skiing. Within hours of arriving, she and friend Dyna Hall witness an acrimonious town meeting concerning the conversion of a ski resort to a granite mine. When the mine's developer is murdered and a friend of Maggie and Dyna's becomes the prime suspect, Maggie launches her own investigation. Hughes capably combines elements of both cozy and environmental mysteries.

David Liss The Ethical Assassin (2006)

Working as a door-to-door salesman in a South Florida trailer park, teenager Lem Altick becomes an eyewitness to the murders of two of his would-be customers and is forced into an uneasy alliance with the assassin, an extremist with a dedication to animal rights.

John D MacDonald Barrier Island (1986)

Real estate tycoon Tucker Loomis's timely purchase of Bernard Island -- soon slated to become part of Gulf Islands National Seashore -- promises to make his fortune until the favors bought and sold as part of the island's purchase price begin to be called in.

Skye Kathleen Moody Blue Poppy (1997)

A perfumery owner, his jealous wife, a gourmet chef, and a wildcrafter all have reason to invade a protected meadow, but when one of them is found murdered, Marine Fish and Wildlife Agent Venus Diamond is determined to solve the case.

Dan O'Brien Brendan Prairie (1996)

When Fish and Wildlife Special Agent Margaret Adamson comes to South Dakota to approve the development at Brendan Prairie, she meets Bill Malone, a falconer turned professor, but as they renew their relationship, and he returns to falconry and confronts the death of his wife, suspicion falls on him for the murder of the man behind the development scheme.

David Poyer As the Wolf Loves Winter (1996)

Returning to Hemlock County, Pennsylvania, after serving two years in prison for setting the fire that killed his wife, "Racks" Halvorsen struggles to put his life back together, until a murder in the wilderness exposes a web of corruption in the National Forest Service and local industry.

Rebecca Rothenberg The Shy Tulip Murders (1996)

While fixing up a cabin in California's San Joaquin Valley, Claire Sharples is drawn into the work of a group of environmental activists and their battle against local loggers and the U.S. Forest Service, a struggle that turns deadly when Claire stumbles upon a bed of rare flowers in the region.

Kirk Russell Shell Games (2003)

Involved in an investigation into an abalone poaching operation that leads to murder, Lieutenant John Marquez, a former DEA agent and current head of a special operations unit of the California Department of Fish and Game, discovers that his own life is in danger from Kline, a vicious drug smuggler and abalone poacher with a grudge against Marquez.

Frank Schätzing The Swarm (2006)

A mysterious and intelligent life force called the Yrr takes control of various forms of marine life to exact revenge on all humankind for its environmental abuses, as whales begin sinking ships, toxic eyeless crabs poison Long Island's water supply, and a deadly tsunami devastates the coastal regions of the world. Translated from the German by Sally-Ann Spencer.

Jessica Speart Bird Brained (1999)

When U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agent Rachel Porter investigates the compound of an alleged smuggler of exotic birds, she discovers her quarry dead and his illegal birds missing, and Rachel finds herself involved with everyone from a seedy snake dealer to exiled anti-Castro terrorists as she searches for a killer.

Neal Stephenson Zodiac: The Eco-Thriller (1988)

Attaining more than his share of enemies when his whistle-blowing practices draw attention to several environmentally careless corporations, activist Sangamon Taylor finds himself dodging the bullets of an unhinged genetic engineer.

David Sundstrand Shadow of the Raven (2007)

A half-Paiute Land Management officer, Francisco Flynn despises the wealthy hunters who come in search of trophies for their walls, a situation that complicates his investigation into a deadly connection between a series of human and animal deaths and the mysterious appearances and disappearances of an enigmatic and ominous man aboard a Harley.

Lee Wallingford Clear-Cut Murder (1993)

Frank Carver and Ginny Trask travel to the town of Coffee Creek, where they become involved in a confrontation between environmental activists and developers that turns deadly.

Randy Wayne White Captiva (1996)

Former government agent-turned-marine biologist Doc Ford finds himself unable to maintain his neutrality when a battle between Florida's sport and commercial fishermen escalates into arson and murder.

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