A Consolata Mary Browne mystery, the second in a series. (To get the most out of it, first read The Feral Strut, which establishes the main characters and background.) After her near-fatal encounter with a grizzly bear, Mary goes to college in Salt Lake City, then tries to return to her job as a forest ranger at the Elf Creek station. But the memories are too disturbing and she has to change jobs. The following year, she works as a wilderness ranger in the Wind River Mountains to the southeast, where a mysterious death draws her into a web of local intrigue.