After certain decisions made on her last case, Shana Merchant—a senior investigator with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI)—is on administrative leave pending a psychological evaluation.  Unsure quite what to do with herself, she's itching to get back to what she does best: work.  When the remains of her uncle, who disappeared twenty years ago, are discovered in Swanton, Vermont, Shana returns to her hometown.  While pondering her uncle's case, she learns that a young boy has been kidnapped near her current home in the Thousand Islands area of New York.  It's clear to Shana that the incidents are connected and that a challenge is being issued to her by serial killer Blake Bram.  He wants her to solve her uncle's murder in order to save the missing child.  With little choice in the matter, Shana begins two intense investigations that will lead her into the one place she never wants to visit—her past.

I enjoyed Death in the Family, the first book in Tessa Wegert's Shana Merchant series, so I was all in for the second installment.  Although the latter didn't suck me in quite as much as the former, I still found The Dead Season to be a tense, gripping read.  Shana's an intriguing character, so it was interesting to learn more about her childhood and her relationship with Bram.  Both of the cases she works in this one are compelling, with twists that keep the story from getting dull or stale.  The identity of Shana's uncle's killer caught me by surprise, even though it shouldn't have—when I thought back over the story, I could clearly see all the clues Wegert dropped along the way that I totally missed.  All of these elements make The Dead Season a compelling page turner.  It held my interest and made me even more eager to see where this engrossing series goes next.  

(Readalikes:  Death in the Family by Tessa Wegert)