Dana Stabenow

Book on CD narrated by Marguerite Gavin.

Book number two in the mystery series featuring Aleut private investigator Kate Shugack. This one starts with a bang, as a deranged serial killer goes on a rampage killing people at random. Kate (along with her trusty wolf-Husky mix, Mutt) stops the guy. Case solved. Or is it?

Stabenow writes a great thriller/mystery. I love the setting in a very rural part of Alaska, and the way she incorporates some Aleut culture into the mix. Kate is a very strong woman and a marvelous lead character. She’s intelligent, resourceful, determined, observant, and kind, but she does not hold back when toughness is required. It’s no wonder she’s earned the trust of not only the authorities, but also the village residents and tribal elders. And I just love Mutt!

Marguerite Gavin does a great job of performing the audiobook. Her diction is clear and she sets a good pace.… (mais)

(1992) Kate must try to figure out who the murderer of Lisa Getty was in the middle of a serial killer's spree. Turns out that her sister Lottie is the one and is tracked down to a trek up a mountain. In an unusual end, the killer is brought to justice by nature rather than our hero. Fitting end for the area the novel is set in.Publishers WeeklyStabenow's ( A Cold Day for Murder ) writing has matured in her second effort featuring native Alaskan sleuth Kate Shugak. The Alaskan terrain and native culture add texture--the narrative includes both a potlatch celebration and an avalanche. Spring brings not only a thaw to the Alaskan wilderness, but a mass murderer. Roger McAniff cracks along with the ice on the first day of spring and goes on a killing spree, murdering nine and wounding two others. Or so it seems until ballistics tests prove that one of the victims, Lisa Getty, was killed by a different rifle. Shugak's investigation reconstructs Getty's life, uncovering her promiscuity, drug-dealing and endangered species-poaching, but all those leads prove false. The investigation reintroduces readers to some of the most intriguing characters from Shugak's previous mystery, including wheelchair-bound black veteran Bobby Clark and Shugak's manipulative grandmother, Ekaterina. Meanwhile, the tension level rises when a park ranger is killed and Shugak herself is wounded by a sniper's rifle, and Stabenow succuessfully sustains the tension until the killer is found.… (mais)

(1992) A park ranger who wants to open up an Alaskan closed park to the public, disappears and the man who was sent to find him also disappears. Kate is brought in by the FBI as a local native to try to find the men. It leads her to the Lost Wife mine that belongs to a native neighbor who was violently opposed to the park plan. Turns out the ranger died accidentally in Abel's home, who then threw the ranger down a shaft of the mine. The man looking for him got too close to the truth, so Abel kills him and also puts him down the shaft. Kate figures all of this out only that it leads to Abel's suicide. Pretty good tale.Publishers WeeklyThis whodunit rides the crest of today's styles: a female detective, a remote locale and the conflict between the traditional way of life (in this case Aleut) and modern America. Detective Kate Shugak became the top investigator for the Anchorage District Attorney's Office. But after getting her throat cut while apprehending a child abuser, she has retired to the Park, 20 million acres of Alaskan wilderness, snow and eccentrics--yet the children's cries keep reverberating in her head. When a park ranger--a congressman's son--disappears, as does the investigator sent after him, the FBI and Shugak's old boss ask for her help. In the process Shugak gets shot at twice and readers get a guided tour of the local landmarks, including Shugak's manipulative grandmother's house in Niniltna (pop. 800) and Bernie's Roadhouse, site of a hilarious showdown between two drunken pipeline workers with a stolen 30-ton excavating machine and a helicopter-flying state trooper. Stabenow's ( Second Star ) tale lacks tension, and Shugak's unfocused anger at the world seems a bit forced, but overall this is an enjoyable and well-written yarn.… (mais)