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Monster Hunter Mystery book cover 1
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Monster Hunter Mystery
Series · 4 books · 2022-2026

Books in series

A Death in Door County book cover
#1

A Death in Door County

2022

A Wisconsin bookstore owner and cryptozoologist is asked to investigate a series of deaths that just might be proof of a fabled lake monster in this first installment of a new mystery series by USA Today bestselling author Annelise Ryan. Morgan Carter, owner of the Odds and Ends bookstore in Door County, Wisconsin, has a hobby. When she's not tending the store, she's hunting cryptids—creatures whose existence is rumored, but never proven to be real. It's a hobby that cost her parents their lives, but one she'll never give up on. So when a number of bodies turn up on the shores of Lake Michigan with injuries that look like bites from a giant unknown animal, police chief Jon Flanders turns to Morgan for help. A skeptic at heart, Morgan can't turn down the opportunity to find proof of an entity whose existence she can't definitively rule out. She and her beloved rescue dog, Newt, journey to the Death's Door strait to hunt for a homicidal monster in the lake—but if they're not careful, they just might be its next victims.
Death in the Dark Woods book cover
#2

Death in the Dark Woods

2023

A potential Bigfoot sighting is linked to a vicious murder, but skeptical cryptozoologist Morgan Carter is on the case in this new Monster Hunter Mystery by USA Today bestselling author Annelise Ryan. Business has been booming since Morgan Carter solved the case of the monster living in Lake Michigan. The Odds and Ends bookstore is thriving, of course, but Morgan is most excited by the doors that were opened for her as a cryptid hunter. Recently, there have been numerous sightings of a Bigfoot\-type creature in the Chequamegon\-Nicolet National Forest area of Bayfield County, Wisconsin. After a man is found dead from a vicious throat injury in the forest, the conservation warden asks Morgan to investigate. When Morgan and her dog, Newt, go there to investigate, they uncover a trail of lies, deception, and murder. It seems a mysterious creature is indeed living in the forest, and Morgan might be its next target.
Beast of the North Woods book cover
#3

Beast of the North Woods

2025

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 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 something killed that man, and that something now has its eyes focused on Morgan.
Monster in the Moonlight book cover
#4

Monster in the Moonlight

2026

Do werewolves exist? That’s the question skeptical cryptozoologist Morgan Carter has to answer in the latest entry in this USA Today bestselling mystery series. The discovery of a dead body along Bray Road in Wisconsin sparks rumors of The Beast of Bray Road, a werewolf-like creature that is said to inhabit the area. The dead woman has been mutilated by some kind of large animal. The community is convinced that the legendary beast is not only real but responsible for this brutal killing. In an effort to prove them wrong, the police bring in cryptozoologist Morgan Carter, who soon finds that the mystery runs considerably deeper than whether or not one mythical predator is on the prowl.

Author

Annelise Ryan
Annelise Ryan
Author · 18 books

Annelise Ryan is the USA Today bestselling author of the Monster Hunter Mysteries featuring cryptozoologist and bookstore owner, Morgan Carter, and the Mattie Winston mystery series, featuring a wryly cynical nurse-turned-coroner. She has always believed laughter really is the best medicine, and with the Mattie Winston series she hoped to "medicate" the masses. She also believes in a good scare every once in a while, hence the Monster Hunter mysteries, the first of which, A Death in Door County, came out in September of 2022. The second in that series, Death in the Dark Woods, comes out in December 2023. Annelise Ryan is a pseudonym for author Beth Amos. There were several reasons why she decided to use a pseudonym, not the least of which was that her ER patients might not have been comfortable knowing she spent her spare time thinking up clever ways to kill people. She is also the author of the Mack's Bar Mystery series written as Allyson K. Abbott. Ryan is a retired emergency room RN living in Wisconsin.

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