From Publishers Weekly
Known for her evocative wilderness settings, Edgar-winner Stabenow heads into urban territory in her uneven 14th Kate Shugak mystery, which is set mainly in Anchorage and picks up where 2003's
A Grave Denied left off. Charlotte Bannister Muravieff, of an influential Alaska family, hires Kate to prove that her imprisoned mother, Victoria, wasn't the culprit behind a 30-year-old tragedy. Convicted of setting a fire in her house that killed her sleeping son William, Victoria is now dying of cancer. Kate hires poacher Kurt Pletnikoff, who's come to Anchorage for work, to help interview everyone still alive connected with the crime, including a reluctant Victoria and her remaining son, Oliver. Fast-paced action scenes, sympathetic child characters and Kate's appealing dog, Mutt, help smooth a complex plot strewn with chunks of historical background. Those looking for bodice-ripping romance will savor the heat generated between Kate and Alaska state trooper Jim Chopin, though established fans may be dismayed by Kate's aggressive sexual behavior. First-time readers may wish that a host of supporting characters, mostly Kate's friends and relatives, were better identified.
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From Booklist
Recently ensconced in a new cabin following the torching of her house--see
A Grave Denied [BKL Ag 03]--Kate Shugak receives a visitor: Charlotte Muravieff, from Anchorage. Fashionable Muravieff is in the Alaskan bush to ask Kate to reinvestigate her mother's murder conviction. Kate does just that, and soon people connected with the 30-year-old case start dying. This fourteenth Kate Shugak mystery is among the best in a consistently strong series. Along with the series' typical appealing features--Kate's erotically charged romantic life with Trooper Jim Chopin; delightful character sketches of various residents of the Alaskan bush, including a dog named Mutt; and, of course, the vivid rendering of the Alaskan landscape--Stabenow adds a new element this time: setting the case in Anchorage allows her to portray Kate dealing with life in the city and to consider Alaskan history outside the backcountry. Even with the more urban setting and theme (political corruption drives the plot), this entry will still appeal to fans of outdoor mysteries by Nevada Barr and Sue Henry.
John RowenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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