I was really happy most of the way through this book but was disappointed in the ending. The motive became too convoluted and what I did understand of it didn't make sense. But I like the characters and writing enough to look forward to the next in the series. ( )

This is the second of the Gus Carpenter and Starvation Lake mystery series, and it's every bit as good as the first outing. The eponymous tree is the place just outside of town where lovers of all types express their commitment by pairing off shoes and boots and skates and whatnot and hanging them from various branches. And then, one night, a woman is found hanging along with the footwear. A woman who grew up in the area and who fled her checkered past, only to return to Starvation Lake shortly before she ends up in the tree. Is it murder or suicide? Gus, the reporter for the small local newspaper, sets out to find the answers and, as was the case the last time around, has to do battle with people and special interests whose other concerns and priorities often clash with Gus's. I really, really like this series already, but I can't help but wonder how many stories Gruley can find in this small Michigan town. I suppose if half of Cabot Cove could be killed off during J.B. Fletcher's run, it's possible to imagine that there could be a long series here, as well; but while I would like to see that happen, I don't know how it can be done realistically. (And really, who *doesn't* laugh at the body count in Cabot Cove?) Beyond that, kudos to Gruley, as well, for making serious inroads into making me a hockey fan. I'm a baseball-football-hoops guy for the most part, and while I've been to a few hockey games over the years, they were more of an excuse on my part to drink beer, and my sheer ignorance of the game kept me from enjoying them very much on anything other than the most basic level. But Gruley's love of hockey is once again evident here and is interwoven into the story in a way that is very appealing. So if I ever find myself at a hockey game and see Bryan in the stands, I'll have to buy him a beer. :) ( )

Hockey, suicide, kinky sex, hockey, Michigan, hockey. ( )

For local reporter Gus Carpenter, the apparent suicide of Gracie McBride is more than just a news story that shakes up his sleepy hometown of Starvation Lake, MI. Gracie was Gus' second cousin, and while she had a wild past, and their relationship was fractious, she appeared to be on the verge of pulling her life together. But even many of those closest to Gracie think it could have been suicide, and Gus is dissuaded from pursuing the truth. Overall, the book was flat to me. No real climatic moment, nothing that really stood out as a redemption moment that would have made the whole reading experience worthwhile. Very much a disappointment. ( )

The very best part of Bryan Gruley's crime series about journalist Gus Carpenter is the setting. The working class town of Starvation Lake is located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where hockey, especially when it involves the local team, is the most important thing going on. So when a wealthy developer from Detroit moves into a big house on the lake and decides to build a new and better hockey arena, the town is enthusiastic enough to gloss over signs that something shady is going on. Enough to want to cover over what might be a murder, downgrading it to a suicide, even as Gus tries to write the real story of what's going on. The newspaper owners are much more interested in the promised advertising revenue from the new arena to allow his stories to be published.

The Hanging Tree is the second in a mystery series that begins with Starvation Lake. It is full of the atmosphere of a gritty, down-on-its-heels northern town that lives and breathes hockey. Gus is a native son, the star goalkeeper who let the critical puck hit the back of the net during the play-offs, the guy who left for the big city of Detroit, only to return in disgrace years later to find that that missed puck is still a topic of discussion. He's both a native son and an outsider, still determined to be the best journalist he can, despite the reduced circumstances of now writing for a small, weekly paper primarily functioning to generate ad revenue. The plot is sturdy enough, although Gruley isn't great at writing female characters. Gus is an interesting guy, and I'll admit that having grown up in two Canadian cities that elevated hockey to a religion, I very much enjoy revisiting a version of that world. ( )