It’s murder in Minnesota today, with a new Sam Rivers mystery from Cary Griffith, the first in a new series from Linda Norlander, and death with recipes from Jeanne Cooney. They are all reading this week. Griffith will be in Apple Valley; Norlander and Cooney are sharing a venue at Lake Country Booksellers.

“Dead Catch” >> by Cary J. Griffith (AdventureKEEN, $16.95)

“Something’s going on up here,” Holden said. “I mean, some-thin’ not right. Not just this that happened to me, but on the lake up here. My place is on Vermillion. I’m on that lake every day. I fish it. Especially walleye. I know lots of people who fish it. Last couple years, walleye stocks are down. On Vermillion.” He paused again. “And I’ve tried some of the other nearby lakes. Crane. Kabetogama. Over on Elbow. Big, good walleye lakes. Stocks are down in every one of ’em. Somethings going on.” — from “Dead Catch”

Did you know there is a $25 million walleye industry in Minnesota? The fish is so prized by restaurants that one character in Cary Griffith’s new mystery is willing to skirt the law to get walleye at a cheaper price than buying from Canada.

Sam Rivers is a special agent in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service whose partner is Gray, a regal and intelligent wolf/dog mix always by Rivers’ side. Sam’s in love with Carmel, but he isn’t able to make a full commitment to the relationship.

In this fourth Rivers mystery, Sam is asked to meet with Holden Riggins, his best friend when they were 12. Riggins, an outdooors man and known poacher, is arrested after he was found nearly frozen to death in his boat. Two conservation officers from the Department of Natural Resources found his boat anchored beside an illegal walleye net. In a nearby net is the dead body of their missing colleague. Riggins is suspected of murder, but the only person he will talk to is Rivers, with whom he shares his feeling that something is causing a drop in the walleye populations at lakes around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

As Rivers and Gray begin looking into twisted nets, a Twin Cities restaurant owner who buys illegally caught walleye, and rogue officers, Sam is getting messages, such as a flat tire, that he should back off the investigation. The reader knows who the perp is and why he wants the law off his back. But Rivers knows that no matter how much danger he might be in, his big dog will always be his protector.

This mystery has something for everybody, from devotees of the BWCA , those interested in the workings of organizations that care for our lakes and fish populations, to those who wish they had a friend like Gray. Rivers even shares his favorite whitefish recipe and dipping sauce.

Griffith, who lives in Rosemount, grew up in eastern Iowa and holds a degree in library science from the University of Minnesota. He also writes nonfiction, including “Gunflint Burning: Fire in the Boundary Waters” and “Opening Goliath: Danger and Discovery in Caving,” winner of a Minnesota Book Award.

He will discuss his book at 6 p.m. Monday, July 22, at Lunds & Byerlys, 15550 English Ave., Apple Valley, sponsored by Apple Valley Rotary Book Club. The program is free and open to the public.

“The Death of Goldie’s Mistress” >> by Linda Norlander (Level Best Books, $16.95)

She continued to meow until it occurred to me that I’d forgotten to feed her. As I dished out the liver dinner I thought about the easy life of a house cat. Someone to feed you, provide a sofa, expensive pillow, and clean your kitty toilet. Not a bad way to live. Then I remembered that the poor cat had spent two days beside her dead mistress in a hot apartment. — from “The Death of Goldie’s Mistress”

If there is such a thing as laugh-out-loud crime, trust former Minnesotan Linda Norlander to write it. Norlander, who lives in Tacoma, Wash., is the author of the Cabin at the Lake mysteries set in northern Minnesota. “The Death of Goldie’s Mistress” is the first in her Liza and Mrs. Wilkens series.

Liza is a schoolteacher who’s out of a summer job, spending her days in her Minneapolis apartment watching reruns of “NCIS” and feeling sorry for herself. She wanted to stay that way but her 84-year-old upstairs neighbor, Mrs. Wilkens, has other ideas. Wearing a T-shirt, cargo shorts and Day Glo orange tennis shoes, Mrs. Wilkens hauls Liza off the sofa because she’s worried about her relative Ramona, who Liza tutored after Ramona kicked her drug habit and was working to get her GED.

When Ramona is found dead, the police assume she relapsed and died of a drug overdose. But Mrs. Wilkens is sure she was murdered. Liza is reluctant to get involved, especially when Mrs. Wilkens insists she keep the dead woman’s cat “for a few days” until the creature can be sent to a shelter. Liza, who had an unfortunate experience as a kid when a gerbil died in the heat ducts, wants nothing to do with the cat. But it turns out the haughty creature becomes a sort-of friend to her as she and Mrs. Wilkens go deeper into Ramona’s life.

They wonder why Ramona was involved with a failing church, run by father/son pastors, where hate is preached. When Liza agrees to read to the younger pastor’s wife, she finds a very sick, bedridden woman who passes her a mysterious note. Liza is also dealing with the voice of her twin, Charlee, who died when they were 4. Charlee disappears for long stretches, periodically returning to tell Liza what to do. Charlee’s back, urging her sister to keep investigating Ramona’s death and the creepy parsonage where there is constant delivery of sealed boxes.

So Liza juggles the cat’s needs, the voice of her dead sister she wants to go away, and Mrs. Wilken’s plans for breaking into the parsonage. The fact that her ideas are illegal doesn’t bother Mrs. Wilkens at all.

Fans of Norlander’s Cabin by the Lake series will be happy to know that the fifth book in the series, “Death of a Dream Catcher,” was published June 25.

“It’s Murder You Betcha” >> by Jeanne Cooney (North Star Press of St. Cloud, $20)

Humorist and author Cooney, who is in demand for speeches and other appearances, gives us a quirky murder story with recipes in the second in her Hot Dish Heaven mysteries.

Doris Day Anderson Connor, a 61-year-old retired farmer, lives in the Scandinavian-Lutheran farming community of Hallock in Northwest Minnesota. Doris and her sister, local cafe owner Kelly Anderson, take 90-year-old Rose O’Brien ice fishing. They don’t catch fish, but they do find a dead body. Like all good amateur sleuths, Doris makes inquires in an effort to move the murder investigation along, which annoys the sheriff and an old boyfriend. Only in Minnesota would Doris find one answer during a gender-reveal party blizzard. Kirkus Reviews says: “Cooney infuses her tale with so much charm that it’s difficult to find fault with the leisurely pace. An engaging and homey detective story that takes it time.”

The author divides her time between Northwest and central Minnesota.

Norlander and Cooney will sign copies of their books from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Friday, July 26, at Lake Country Booksellers, 2766 Washington Square, White Bear Lake.