Game warden and poacher infiltrate militia group, what could go wrong?

Super thrilled to see a new book in the Wood Cops series! This is the first Wood Cops book since 2018’s Bad Optics.

Grady Service is a Detective game warden in the UP, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He has gone undercover for a task force investigating a religious militia group who have set up camp in the UP. It seems all the agencies are circling this group, including the FBI, ATF and US Fish and Wildlife.

Heywood’s UP has unique characters including a mysterious woodswoman named Worm. Grady has his former nemesis and current friend, Limpy Allerdyce to keep track of the militia. Two new game warden recruits, Jordy Bapcat and Patty Something, join the investigation. Service is juggling his home life and the undercover case. Meanwhile, Grady’s romantic partner and State Police detective deals with skeletons found in a cave.

Heywood keeps the action rolling throughout this complex case. His knowledge of the work and situations encountered by game wardens is evident. His characters are funny, some eccentric, but always interesting. I devoured this 12th book in the series and recommend the whole series. If you enjoy Paul Doiron, C.J. Box and William Kent Krueger you will have a blast reading Out of Service!

Thanks to Globe Pequot | Lyons Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy.