Annelise Ryan is a penname for Beth Amos (https://bethamos.com/). In addition to the Monster Hunter series (the fourth book, Monster in the Moonlight, publishes on January 27, 2026), she’s written the 12-book Mattie Winston series as Ryan, six mysteries under the pseudonym Allyson K. Abbott that feature Mack Dalton, and five standalone paranormal novels under her own name. Have you read any other books by this author, and if so, which ones and how did they compare to The Beast of the North Woods?
I haven’t read her books before, but I’ll see if there are titles in the local library.
Kim, why does she use many names? Is she better able to publish more books in a year?
I have read others in this series so I was familiar with her style. I like her characters and the way she describes the landscape.
Hi @NanK! She’s the second or third author I’ve encountered recently who writes under multiple names. We’re setting up an interview with Kate Storey who publishes under a bunch of names, too. You can bet that’s a question we’ll be asking, LOL. I imagine it differs for each author. Sometimes it’s because they write in multiple genres, so they publish, say, their romances under one name and their literary fiction under another (which is the case for Kate Storey, I believe).
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I read A Death In Door County last year since we were going to be visiting there. It is an interesting part of the country! With Lake Michigan, dense wooded areas and friendly, folksy people, it is the perfect setting for a “monster” mystery. I had never heard of a hodag, so this was a fun story for me.
This was a new author for me. I enjoyed the story and will read the other books in this series. Morgan is a very brave woman!
You’ll love Door County! There’s so much to see and beautiful vistas to enjoy. Cherry products are everywhere, but if you really want a special cherry breakfast I can recommend our favorite place.
I have only read this series but now that I know she publishes under other names, I will look for those books. I enjoyed this series that much.
I saw the author Patti Callahan Henry and she said that because she entered historical fiction, her publisher did not want to confuse her readers. I think your point about different genres may be the lead answer. I personally think that readers are smart enough to figure out that authors can write different genres,
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Nan, we were able to go to Door County last year and came home with all sorts of cherry products! We also attended a fish boil which was very fun. One morning my sister-in-law and I had a waffle topped with cherry syrup and cherry cream cheese. Oh, my!
This was a new author for me also. I’ll have to see if we have any of her books at our library.
The White Gull Inn in Fish Creek serves French toast filled with cherries and cream cheese then more cherries on top. Another Oh, my! They don’t take reservations, and the breakfast line starts before breakfast is served!
@Dee_Driscole I don’t know… I think if I saw a John Grisham novel I’d expect a legal thriller, so I probably wouldn’t even read the description of one of his books no matter the true content. I’d pigeon hole it, I think. So to me it makes a certain amount of sense to publish different genres under different names.
I don’t know if you’re old enough, but do you remember the furor when Judy Blume branched out into more adult content? In that case, the publicity probably worked in her favor, but I could see some publicist advising her to use a different name for books that had more mature themes.
I do remember this time. It seems fickle now and then. Blume was an edgy writer. *Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret" was popular among young girls as well as those of us who were beyond that stage. I know this book and some of her others faced the banning squads. I do wonder if Margaret is still popular among tweens. Anyone know??
My library system which is quite large still has paper copies of Are You There God… as well two large print copies and DVDs. The interesting thing to me is that it is shelved in the teen collection and not in children’s area where it started out years ago. Margaret is only 12, not a teen or young adult, so there is that!
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