When the Wasp Stings

This town's in the Green Mountains, a thousand miles north of the subtropics-yet, an alligator walks along Main Street. Simultaneously, for no obvious reason, inept thieves steal sugar-maple logs.

Then it gets serious.

Sadists attack the town's pets.

A maple-syrup entrepreneur dies of allergies-his murderer slips yellow-jacket wasps into his sleeves.

Knife-wielding psychopaths, dressed as Ninjas, go on a killing rampage. Cooper suspects they target people she visits, who matter to her.

She wonders: is it all connected?

She's graying, tall, almost gaunt. She walks with a cane. She's a recovering scotch addict. Yet, her penetrating gray eyes see deep. On the hunt, she's relentless.

As she and her police colleagues follow the killers' zigzagging trails, this story twists, then keeps twisting.

Finally, it twists hard.

You won't guess the ending.