Park Ranger Dan O'Brian is threatened with losing his job. Kate Shugak tries to rally support, and two Park rats (Dina and Ruthe) are attacked and one dies. Then, another seemingly unrelated death of a man who sponsors hunting trips commits suicide, and Kate has to unravel the mystery and her own feelings about trooper Jim Chopin. ( )

"A Fine And Bitter Snow" moves right along from "Singing For The Dead" continuing the "we're really a series now" feeling that has been there since "Hunter's Moon".

This book brings Kate back to the Park and gets her reinvolved with the regular cast of characters from the previous books. Kate is most fully herself in the Park. Seeing her in this environment shows how she has changed: her quite assumption that she can and should intervene in Park politics, the hole in her life where Jack used to be and her dawning recognition that, although she still values her solitude, she yearns for a man to share her life with.

I can also see what hasn't changed: Kate's loyalty to her friends, her refusal to be pushed into anything, her bravery in the face of danger and her practical compassion in her dealings with people in trouble.

"A Fine And Bitter Snow" gave me another opportunity to see Kate through Jim Chopin's eyes. Somehow this seems a clearer and more passionate view than I ever remember getting through Jack Morgan's eyes.

There is, of course a murder and Kate involves herself in investigating it. The death takes Kate back to her childhood and beyond, to the very early days of the Park being formed and shows once again that you can never leave your past behind you. The murder mystery is not particularly challenging but that is more than made up for by how well drawn the characters are.

I dislike murder books that seem fascinated with the murderer, revelling in the violence they do to others and relegating the victims to incidental plot devices. Dana Stabenow draws real people and describes real grief. In many ways, this makes her murders much more terrible than those of her more blood-thirsty contemporaries.

One of the ways that the people in the Park deal with grief is through holding a Potlach. Kate sets this one up (another way in which she is unconsciously stepping into her grandmother's shoes) and her choice of the picture as a Potlach gift sums up the focus on celebrating the person's life. The stories told at the Potlach reminded me of the ones that were told at the wakes my (Irish) grandfather's generation used to hold.

I'm hooked on Kate Shugak now and no longer constrained by books not being available on audible (at least in the US - there are still gaps in the UK) so I've downloaded the rest of the books and will be rationing them out at one a month (unless I give way to weakness and read more). ( )

Kate, Mutt, Johny, Jim, Dan, Bernie, Gal.... I love all these characters. They've all been through some seriously hard times in the last two books and are finding some bits of happiness finally. I love the direction Kate is heading, it is a healing path. She has been living a life that has kept her from fully healing her past pains for so long.
There is a mystery, a good one. People close to Kate die, it's a tangled web filled with diversions, lies and horrible truths. That's all I'm going to say. For me this series is more about the Park family than the mysteries solved that is just the bonus. I can't wait to start the next book ( )

Kate is back. It's been awhile since we last caught up with the feisty private investigating crime solver. In A Cold-Blooded Business she and single dad, Jack, were hot and heavy. Now several books later Jack is dead and Kate is sort of looking after his son from a previous marriage. As an FYI - Kate's grandmother has also passed. In time, this detail will become important to the plot. For now, Kate needs a distraction from the grief these dual deaths have caused and, oddly enough, it comes in the form of oil drilling in southeast Alaska. Drilling in general has been a sensitive subject to all involved but when longtime friend and park ranger, Dan O'Brien, is deemed too environmentally friendly and is forced into early retirement, it becomes Kate's mission to save his job. It becomes even more personal when a good friend of her grandmother's is found murdered just days after agreeing to help Dan keep his job. Is the drilling in the wildlife preserve connected to this most recent death? State trooper, Jim Chopin, is on the case and he asks Kate to help...in more ways than one. ( )

Kate is back in the Park, recovering. When she discovers that the local ranger is about to be cashiered because he opposes administration policy on oil drilling, she springs into action. All the familiar characters are there--Mutt is my favorite. As always, Stabinow illuminates one of the contemporary Alaska issues--oil drilling in the natural environment. Oh, and there is some crime involved and Kate solves it. "Chopper Jim" evolves and becomes a character we can enjoy. Where's book #13? ( )