“[Galligan] brilliantly draws the Snopes-like Kussmauls while writing with flair and passion about fly-fishing, art and fate.”
—Publishers Weekly

312 pages  |  $23.95 (cloth)  |  Add to Cart

The Blood Knot summary

The last thing The Dog wanted was to find another body.

But there was Annie Adams—the barn lady—floating dead at his feet, her easel and paints set up on the bridge above his head. Standing defiantly beside them, a frightened and stubborn nine-year-old—The Avalanche Kid—shotgun in hand, dares the Dog, “You saw me hit her. Now go ahead and tell somebody.”

And so the Dog wades through “Kussmaul country,” encountering some scandalous paintings, a dispute over trespassing, a shunned Amish woman on meth, and a quite possibly rabid beaver.

And the Dog knows, this is not a fishing trip.

The Blood Knot is the second installment in the Fly Fishing Mystery

Praise for The Blood Knot

“A superbly told tale of trout and red herrings chased with vodka and Tang…The tetchy xenophobia of Witness combined with the unbridled energy of Deliverance and a touch of The Compleat Angler: one helluva story.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“[Galligan] brilliantly draws the Snopes-like Kussmauls while writing with flair and passion about fly-fishing, art and fate.”—Publishers Weekly

“Fly fishing, drug abuse, and a backwoods Amish community form an unlikely yet irresistible mix in this deeply-textured noir.”—Mystery Scene Magazine

“Dog's done it again. With The Blood Knot, Galligan proves once more that his is one of the most unique voices in crime fiction. His exploration of of personal tragedy and felony murder set against the pristine beauty of rural Wisconsin is a captivating and seamless blend of fly fishing and existentialism—Camus with rod and reel.”—Reed Farrel Coleman

“This is not a fly fishing mystery. It is a riotous account of what happens when your life goes horridly awry and you run out of money in the middle of Wisconsin, and a possibly rabid beaver bites you, then you find a dead body in a stream when all you want to do is fish. I loved it to death.”—Mary Logue

“His writing is unique in a genre where books can very easily blend together. While they claim to be fly fishing mysteries, they are much more. They are human and emotional and poignant and totally original. His insight into human nature is evident on every page.”—Crimespree Magazine

John Galligan lives in Madison, WI. He is the author of the Fly Fishing mystery series including the award winning The Blood Knot. John is also the author of Red Sky, Red Dragonfly, a literary novel set in Japan. He is currently work on the next fly fishing mystery, The Clinch Knot.