Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees - Patrick Horvath
Sam Strong, an anthropomorphic bear and the owner of a hardware store in the tiny town of Woodbrook, has a secret. Every now and then, she goes to the city to kill strangers. Just to take the edge off, you know? But she really does love her town. So when someone else starts committing grisly (ha ha!) murders in Woodbrook, the usually serene community is thrown into chaos — and Sam needs to find the killer before the police start looking too closely at her own movements. This is a pretty standard thriller plot with few surprises in the endgame. It stands out in that the protagonist is also a serial killer, and the "talking animal" setting adds a novel, ironically cute layer to it. Horvath’s illustrations reinforce this tone beautifully. His thin lines and warm, gentle colors evoke children’s books and Sunday funnies, while his real strength lies in facial expressions: the animals' placid smiles, flickers of fear, and moments of barely concealed menace carry much of the emotional weight.
