Gator Aide (Rachel Porter Mysteries)

Description

STOMPING THROUGH THE SWAMP

A failed New York actress, Rachel Porter figured that any new career would be an improvement--until she became a wildlife agent and found herself stuck in the steamy Louisiana bayous, chasing poachers and fending off mosquitoes the size of Central Park pigeons.

Rachel's first major assignment for the New Orleans Fish and Wildlife Service has brought her to the infamous French Quarter, to deal with a dead alligator chained to a bathtub--not far from an equally dead stripper. But when Rachel discovers that an o. d. of ingested heroin-stuffed condoms--and not the five bullet holes in the gator's head--was the true cause of its demise, the inquisitive agent finds herself perilously caught up in both murder investigations. And with killers, cops, neo-Nazis, drag queens and crooked politicos on her case, it's take more than Big Apple sass to get Rachel out of the Big Easy. . .alive.STOMPING THROUGH THE SWAMP

A failed New York actress, Rachel Porter figured that any new career would be an improvement--until she became a wildlife agent and found herself stuck in the steamy Louisiana bayous, chasing poachers and fending off mosquitoes the size of Central Park pigeons.

Rachel s first major assignment for the New Orleans Fish and Wildlife Service has brought her to the infamous French Quarter, to deal with a dead alligator chained to a bathtub--not far from an equally dead stripper. But when Rachel discovers that an o. d. of ingested heroin-stuffed condoms--and not the five bullet holes in the gator s head--was the true cause of its demise, the inquisitive agent finds herself perilously caught up in both murder investigations. And with killers, cops, neo-Nazis, drag queens and crooked politicos on her case, it s take more than Big Apple sass to get Rachel out of the Big Easy. . .alive.

---

In this energetic and engaging debut mystery, a dead alligator leads novice U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent Rachel Porter to the body of the woman who owned it. A large part of the fun is watching Porter--a disillusioned New York actress--learn her job as she stumbles through the swamps of Louisiana and the even more dangerous streets of New Orleans in search of poachers, drug dealers, and other local wildlife. Fans of Nevada Barr and her forest ranger character, Anna Pigeon, should enjoy the start of this fascinating series.

---

Winged Obsession: The Pursuit of the World's Most Notorious Butterfly Smuggler

Description

winged obsession

The Pursuit of the World's Most Notorious Butterfly Smuggler

One of the world's most beautiful endangered species, butterflies are as lucrative as gorillas, pandas, and rhinos on the black market.

And in this cutthroat $200 million business, no one made more money than—or posed as great an ecological danger as—Yoshi Kojima, the kingpin of butterfly smugglers.

Determined to capture Kojima, rookie U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agent Ed Newcomer became close to the smuggler, posing as a young apprentice eager to learn the smuggling trade. But twice the agent's inexperience allowed this criminal, with a nearly supernatural sense of survival and an overwhelming sense of paranoia, to get away.

Just when it seemed Kojima was out of reach, Newcomer was given one last chance to reel him in. Somewhere in the hunt, Kojima had become obsessed with the agent. This obsession, along with his continued mania for butterflies, could finally spell the downfall of the untouchable smuggler.

But the story doesn't end there. Working under-cover to research this book, Jessica Speart befriended Kojima as well. Like Newcomer, she was going to betray Kojima. What she didn't know was that this cagey smuggler was planning to turn the tables and use her as a patsy for continuing his illegal butterfly trade.

---

Unsafe Harbor: A Rachel Porter Mystery (Rachel Porter Mysteries)

Description

---

Restless Waters: A Rachel Porter Mystery (Rachel Porter Mysteries)

Description

For most people, Hawaii is heaven on Earth. But U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent Rachel Porter sees the rot beneath its natural splendor. Its pristine shores are harboring a new breed of criminal, those who would upset the fragile ecological balance in the name of profit ... those who would kill in the cause of greed.

On the trail of illegal traffickers in exotic animals, Rachel stumbles upon something far more insidious and frightening -- and a suspiciously shark-devoured human corpse that washes up on the rocks is only the beginning. Suddenly everyone wants her off a case that is too hot to handle. But she won't be warned, coaxed, or threatened away, even as the blood that darkens the tropical waters marks Rachel Porter as the most endangered creature in Paradise.

---

Tortoise Soup (Rachel Porter Mysteries)

Description

Having transferred from steamy New Orleans, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agent Rachel Porter learns her new assignment in the Nevada desert is no picnic, either: three hundred and fifty endangered tortoises have disappeared from a federal hatching site. Rachel finds no shortage of suspects in the tort-napping: a trio of eco-nuts living in an ark, who fear the creatures are about to die off; trigger-happy ranchers who hate the new government restrictions on ther grazng lands; and developers whose greedy land grab has been forced to halt.

When Rachel discovers the decaying skeleton of a reclusive landowner and her home and office are bombed, her instincts tell her that the missing tortoises are at the center of all the mayhem. And as the deception, dirty dealing and fatal secrets escalate, Rachel finds herself deep in desert danger--from critters two-legged and otherwise!

---

Blue Twilight: A Rachel Porter Mystery (Rachel Porter Mysteries)

Description

Something precious and beautiful is being ruthlessly destroyed. And those who champion the small, fragile, threatened lives are endangered themselves. An agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Rachel Porter has been assigned to the northern California wilds, where a biologist recently vanished while searching for a rare blue butterfly believed extinct -- a hunt that may well have led him to his death. And now a young girl has gone missing also, and her disappearance might be connected, so Rachel cannot ignore it. But bodies and lies are piling up in her path, and beyond them catastrophe is waiting for Rachel Porter. Because in a world of heartless greed and cruel obsession, there may be nothing that separates a fanatic collector from a cold-blooded killer.

---