A Superior Death

By sheer coincidence every man at the Windigo end of the island was sent off to fight them. 
Remaining was me, as Acting District Ranger, and three female interpreters.  A visitor remained with us for several days after the exodus.  Each day this man looked more harried and glum.  On day three he came into the ranger station.  He looked as if he'd lost weight and was not sleeping well. After a few minutes of muttering, he asked in a tiny scared voice: "What have you done with all the MEN?"  That and a wonderful old short story called, I think, something like "A Bottle of Relish" (and would a literate reader please write in with the proper name and author) became the touchstones for the book."

Nevada

 

A Superior Death is set on Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior, Michigan.  It is the second in the series and delves into the mysteries both on this wilderness island and in the cold, clear, deep waters of the lake surrounding it.

"Isle Royale National Park was my first duty station as a seasonal law enforcement ranger and Anna Pigeon's second park.  A number of things went into the inspiration for this book.  While I was there, fires broke out in the West (as they do every summer, a pity for the nearby residents but a financial boon for wild land firefighters).