White Sky, Black Ice

Nathan Active Mystery #1

by Stan Jones

Half Inupiat Eskimo by birth, Trooper Nathan Active is posted to a remote Alaskan Indian village, where he soon finds himself investigating a suicide that seems to defy logic, as the man had shot himself in the Adam's apple.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Procedural, Native American

264 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Stan Jones is a writer of mystery novels, and is co-author of a non-fiction oral history book.

He has written seven books in the Nathan Active mystery series. He is also the co-author (with Sharon Bushell) of The Spill: An oral history of the Exxon Valdez disaster.

THE SAND GARDEN, installment No. 1 in his Dana Forsythe Mysteries was published in November 2023. It's based in the Palm Springs area and features a female private detective. Mary Wasche was his co-author on THE SAND GARDEN.

He was born in Anchorage, Alaska, where he lives today.

Reviews

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The three great strengths of White Sky, Black Ice are sense of place, cultural politics and characterisation. This is very much a book of rural Alaska and of the Inupiat community and its relations amongst itself and the outside world. The landscape is richly evoked and the reader is transported to a place entering an Alaskan winter. Like Adrian Hyland’s Emily Tempest books, Jones uses the insider/outsider role of the lead character to very good effect. Nathan Active occupies a liminal space between communities. Jones uses the position to examine the nature of the Inupiat community, its various cultural practices, organization and issues. He also nicely captures the politics of resource extraction and the pressures of big business and politics on the lives of ordinary people. The plot is relatively straightforward and my guess is that the average mystery reader will have the murderer identified a long way from the end. What is very nicely done, however, is how the resolution is handled by Nathan Active given its potential ramifications to the local community. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I’ll be reading others in the series.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The wilds of Alaska surrounding the tiny village of Chukchi make a wonderful backdrop for this interesting mystery. Nathan Active, an Alaska State Trooper raised in Anchorage but born in Chukchi, finds himself posted to this village above the Arctic Circle and in the middle of an investigation of a series of supposed suicides.

While unraveling the truth behind the deaths he must also come to terms with his return to this remote village and find his place in the Inupait community he left as an infant.

[Lemar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent debut of Alaska State Trooper Nathan Active, keeping the peace deep in the frozen but simmering world of the Inupiat people of Northern Alaska. Like many young people in First Nations societies, he has a foot in each world. This book is extremely compelling.

[donna_ehm · Rating 2 out of 5]

While Jones writes effectively (and with obvious knowledge) about the landscape and the challenges it brings to those who call it home, he's crap when it comes to anything involving physical relationships. The first description of Nathan Active having sex with Lucy, a colleague and kind-of "love interest" (definitely on her part, so-so on his), was down-right cringeworthy (look, the word "thatch" was used to describe her pubic area and I've passed that along to you so you too can have the pleasure of it lodged in your brain just as I have).

But even more than the poor handling of the description of it was the entire set-up: basically, Lucy's mother Pauline pimps her out to Nathan by setting up the scenario where Nathan is asked to come by the house on a pretense so that Lucy could meet him at the door in a bathrobe etc. and then proceed to finish drying her hair/getting dressed in the bathroom with the door open so Nathan gets a good look at her mostly naked.

That Lucy is a willing participant in this scheme doesn't make it any more palatable. Nor does the fact that Nathan was aware of what was going on and yet still took advantage of the setup. Afterward, out in his truck, he's joined by Pauline and he says, "That wasn't right, what you did." Pauline's reasoning? "Not good for young man go too long without woman."

It was just an absolutely bizarre thing to think of and then put on the page. I might have been able to scrub it from my brain (doubtful but I was willing to give it a go) but then later he meets up with Kathy Childs to discuss aspects of the case. She's a tough, no nonsense, delightfully foul-mouthed biologist who I immediately took to. Used to being outdoors and the weather extremes of the Arctic, Nathan marvels at the "raw physical vigor Kathy Childs exuded and wondered what she would be like in bed. Also not for the first time, he realized he didn't have the slightest desire to find out. Was she a lesbian? Or was he just intimidated by this woman who talked and seemed to think like a man."

And I just thought, "Oh, fuck you." I am not here for the tropes of 'tough woman = woman must be a lesbian' and 'I don't want to fuck this woman = woman must be a lesbian'. Like seriously, piss off with that shit. I realize this was written in 1999. But I sincerely hope that over the course of the series Jones learned to expand his mind a little to encompass the radical notion that women come in all shapes, sizes, personalities, attitudes, and sexualities. And along with that the ability to express that in writing that's well beyond 'strong = masculine = must be lesbian'.

[Ola · Rating 4 out of 5]

After visiting Alaska last summer, I wanted to find a book written by an Alaskan, set in Alaska, describing Alaska well, that was also quick and easy to read. White Sky, Black Ice by Stan Jones fit this bill and was an enjoyable mystery.

White Sky, Black Ice's protagonist, the Alaskan half-Inupiat state trooper Nathan Active, is investigating two suicides occurring days from each other in a remote tiny Alaskan Inupiat village. The plot is decent, straightforward, and easy to follow but, in all honesty, not the highlight of the book. Instead, Jones's talent is his ability to create an atmosphere so vivid and realistic that I felt the cold landscape any time I opened the book. Jones also succeeds in illustrating Inupiat life with a nuanced and worthy introduction to those unfamiliar with the culture. The protagonist, Nathan Active, is also written with enough subtlety that I'm interested in reading further in the series to see where Active's story goes. Unfortunately, this book does suffer from some poorly written female characters that, at times, border on offensive. Since White Sky, Black Ice came out in the 1990s, I was able to look past this drawback, and I hope further in the series, women characters are not as ridiculous.

If you're looking for a quick and very atmospheric mystery, White Sky, Black Ice is a capable choice.

[Wendy · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I wasn't so stubborn to make sure that I finish a book once I start, no matter how much it pisses me off, I would have never finished this one. I was not impressed. I didn't like the writing style, I have some personal issues with certain items that the author focused on while describing scenes, & my brain nearly imploded when the writer changed point of view among his characters in mid-paragraph. Also, the plot of the story lacked substance & I definitely didn't feel very mystified. Complete dud.

[Dennis Fischman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The weakness of the book is that a lot of the mystery gets explained in extended dialogue, instead of detected. The real bad guys’ characters are underdeveloped—but not the murderer, who is complex and oddly sympathetic. I liked everything else about the book, and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this very much. I've read previous Alaskan law enforcer books and they're usually depressing or sad tinged. This one has a bit less of that but still maintains the cultural accuracies of living there. That sailor boy pilot bread is everywhere and I had to look it up. Nathan is smart and the end was really surprisingly creative. Not sure if it was satisfactory but excellent. Definitely going through this series!!

[Ben Jaques-Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super enjoyable mystery set in a rural Alaskan town. Tough outside state trooper Nathan Active solves a pair of questionable suicides.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty decent, will read more. Boy, christmastime is the best time for snowy murder mysteries.

[Marian Wendelin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mystery (the first in a series) with an Inuit Alaskan state trooper operating in a very small town towards the north and on the west coast of Alaska. Nathan Active is Inuit as I said, but his young mother gave him up to white people to be adopted and raised, so culturally he is more white than Inuit. His mother lives in Chukhi where Nathan works, but his adoptive parents are in Anchorage, where Nathan would like to return. The mystery involves two murders and corruption in both the private and public sectors in Alaska. The book was well-written and interesting, and I expect to read more of this series.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the setting in Arctic village but I have misgivings about the accuracy and respect shown by a writer who, as far as I can tell, is not native Alaskan himself.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5* Great setting with strong local color and Alaskan flavors; some interesting characters. Not sure I find Nathan a beacon of intrigue as a protagonist; he doesn't seem very complex. Pace a bit slow; plot a bit obvious. But given this is the first in the series, I will probably read another later to see if it improves.

[Mal Warwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

White Sky, Black Ice introduces Nathan Active, an Alaska State Trooper starting his career far from the action he craves in the capital. However, he finds almost enough action to derail his career soon after it’s started in his assignment to the provincial town of Chukchi, where his birth mother lives. Active is himself Inupiat — what people in the lower 48 call “Eskimo” — by birth, and for the first time in his life he finds himself immersed in his native culture.

This is the first of four Nathan Active mysteries so far. The style is spare enough to match the minimalist landscape, the characters fit for the space they inhabit, and the plot clever but straightforward. It’s a promising start.

The true value of this book for the reader — who, after all, has thousands of alternatives among crime and mystery novels — is Jones’ rendering of the stark landscape and, more significantly, his presentation of Inupiat culture. He himself was born in Anchorage and knows whereof he writes. White Sky, Black Ice is a fascinating journey into the minds of one of the Americas’ least well-known peoples.

[Connie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alaskan state trooper Nathan Active was posted to Chulchi, his birth village. His mother, an unmarried Inupiat teen, had given him up for adoption and he had been raised by a white adoptive couple in Anchorage. He's learning about the Inupiat culture as he is dealing with his police work.

Nathan is investigating a string of questionable suicides. The investigation leads him to information that might implicate managers at the GeoNord copper mine.

The author has been an editor at several Alaskan newspapers as well as a bush pilot. His portrayal of the northern Alaskan people add immensely to this mystery. The mystery was not fast paced, but I give this book 4 stars because of its fascinating look at Alaskan, including Inupiat, culture.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another discovery for me in the field of Native American mysteries--this one set in Alaska and starring state trooper Nathan Active, who is half Inupiat. Set in a remote artic village, the story line features a series of Native deaths that look like suicide plus a copper mine that may be killing fish and poisoning drinking water.

I enjoyed the descriptions of Inupiat life and culture and the beauty of the Artic in winter. One of my favorite features is an Inupiaq glossary at the beginning, revealing the meaning and pronunciation of 15 words. Delightful. I'm saving it just in case the next book in the series doesn't have one.

I am never going to eat whale blubber, but I enjoy learning about native cultures through fiction.

(The Inupiat are also known as Inuit or Eskimo.)

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-written mystery. But when it comes to mysteries set in Alaska, I think I prefer John Straley. Jones' Nathan Active is like a more assimilated and cynical Jim Chee from the Tony Hillerman series. He's trying to figure out his identity as a nalauqmiiyaaq (half Inupiat and half white.) interesting, but in the end a standard whodunnit where everything gets tied up in the end. That's also the case with Straley's investigator Cecil Younger, but Younger is a lot more complicated and compelling character. At least that's how I remember it - it has been about 15 years since I read them.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#1 in the Nathan Active series. Finalist 2000 Barry Award for Best First Novel.

Nathan Active, an Alaska State Trooper, is Inupiat born but raised by white parents in Anchorage. Now assigned to his birth village of Chukchi, he is an outsider to Native culture. Nathan is confronted by several shooting deaths and is under pressure to label them as suicides, but he has his doubts. The victims were both employed at the same copper mine.

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent whodunit set among the Inupiat villages of northern Alaska, Nathan Active is a State Trooper assigned to investigate two murders originally alleged to be suicides. Nathan himself is Inupiat, although adopted and raised by a white couple in Anchorage.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting setting but rather dry delivery made it hard to connect! Liked it enough to maybe try another

Interesting setting but rather dry delivery made it hard to connect with a large cast of characters. Satisfying though slightly improbable resolution.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

"White Sky, Black Ice" is the first book in Stan Jones's series of mysteries about the adventures of Alaska state police officer Nathan Active. The mystery in "White Sky, Black Ice" is reasonably mysterious up until two-thirds of the way through where a single encounter makes most of the puzzle pieces fit. All that remained was the final burst of violence and the resolution of a romantic sub-plot. Based on the plot alone, I would give this mystery two stars. But the characters and setting elevate "White Sky, Black Ice" above its story. I have already ordered a copy of the second book in the series.

What I found fascinating about this book is the way it portrays life and law enforcement above the Arctic Circle. Nathan Active was born in Chukchi (pop. 2,500) to Inupiat parents, but adopted by a white couple as an infant and raised in Anchorage, which for purposes of this book might as well be Los Angeles. He joins the state police and is assigned to his birthplace where in spite of his parentage he's a fish out of water. Active looks like a full-blooded Inupiat, but doesn't speak the language and is unfamiliar with the culture and legends of his people who mostly consider him white or a half-breed. So other characters are constantly teaching him (and us) interesting bits of the language and culture. He also has a lot to learn about the lifestyle of those who live closer to the North Pole than Seattle. Hunting and fishing are daily activities and an important source of food, but Active has little interest in either, eating his meals at a Korean restaurant. Many families have a house in Chukchi, but spend half their time at hunting cabins miles into the wilderness. Active has to travel by airplane and snowmobile to question witnesses and look for suspects. The local economy depends on jobs at a giant copper mine that may or may not be polluting the river supplying a village with drinking water and fish. Political corruption and payoffs provide a sub-plot. And throughout it all are a couple dozen mostly Inupiat characters whose quirks and habits keep things interesting.

[Julie Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

White Skies, Black Ice (Nathan Active Mysteries, #1)
Stan Jones
Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, North Noir)
Nathan Active was born to a teenage mother in a small town on the Northwestern Coast of Alaska. Adopted at three, he moved with his Caucasian parents to Anchorage, but kept in touch with his Native mother. Now he's back, having been stationed there, of all places, with the Alaska State Troopers. The town of Natives and a few white workers sits near the coast and large, unfolding frozen white tundra, a few creeks and mountains and camps where the people go fishing for whales and hunting for caribou. Nathan is biding his time until he can move back to Anchorage, but he is getting accustomed to the rhythms of his heritage and his family.
By pure coincidence, he gets involved with a death on the city limits. While sad, it seems self-inflicted, and tied to a curse on the victim's family. But then, another death occurs in Nathan's own family, a puzzle that he considers for a while as the older women in the town keep trying to set him up. Do the deaths have anything to do with the Gray Wolf copper mine, a distance up north and the pet project of the town's political leader? Nathan must step carefully, because if the mine is somehow involved, it also brings hope and jobs to the villagers.
I enjoyed this book, the first in a series, as an immersion into "Eskimo" (a term used by the Natives amongst themselves) cultures and the humor and skepticism of a man, half an insider and half an outsider, making his way. Jones writes confidently and with a dry sense of humor, and with a wealth of knowledge of small town Alaskan life. He even includes a glossary and pronunciation at the front of the book. Recommend for police procedural fans.

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

A promising Alaskan detective series that falls flat. The setting, esp. the overview about Native culture and terminology, and the half-breed main character are a great set-up. The landscape is described beautifully and I plopped into the climate; I even felt a bit cold, though it’s a hot summer in my neck of the woods right now. The plot seems rushed, emphasized by terse dialog, and it started to feel like a screenplay more than a novel. Overall, though, I was deeply turned off by the misogynistic treatment of female characters. The author openly sets up Nathan Active as immature, but the trooper’s “love interest” in his colleague, Lucy, is more than immature. His practice of booty calls followed by no daytime interaction comes across as borderline sociopathic. There’s no romantic buildup and Lucy’s character is given nothing, other than giggles and juicy descriptions about her body. Lucy’s mother is practically a pimp, setting up opportunities for Lucy to throw her body at Active. Perhaps the author is making a point about how women are treated in Native culture, but in this pilot novel there was no larger context painted. There are meatier and less stereotypic Alaskan detective series, such as Dana Stabenow and John Straley’s. I’ll stick with those.

[Cris · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I've visited Alaska, I have no real familiarity with the Inupiat culture so I can't speak to the accuracy of Jones' portrayal. However, I felt like I was getting something of an experience of peering into another cultural. So, the book was satisfactory on that score.

The mystery itself was solid. Once everything was explained I found it to be believable and even compelling. I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed the ending. I'm usually a real stickler for the rules and law, so I was surprised by how satisfying I found Nathan's solution to be. I guess because even though the court system wasn't used, justice was served. Tom Werner paid for the murders he committed, motivated by his community's good. GeoNord paid for their part in the environmental damage and the murders in the coin they most value--money. The community benefited from the continued operation of the mine and the scholarships. And yet Nathan still managed to bring comfort to the families--their loved ones didn't choose to leave.

While the entire book takes place in just over a week, the pace feels much slower.

[Glee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good book and a pretty good mystery. But I have been fighting to read and to finish it. I have been attributing that to the times we are living in - coronavirus and staying home - but after finishing and going back over it, I do believe that this is a good book, just not very well written. It is a first novel, and the plot was interesting, but the mystery was a bit obscure and the writing was, well, not very good. I know that I decided to read it because it was situated in Alaska, which is always a draw for me. The author uses a device that usually appeals to me - embedding foreign words and including a glossary. However, there aren't a lot of words, and since it is based on a real native language which bears no relationship to English-Germanic languages, it seems more like Welsh (as in, VERY limited vowels) than anything else. In other words, pretty resistant to incorporating into a narrative without bringing the whole thing to a halt while you look up the word for the 112th time. (There are only a handful of words.) But I was very satisfied with the ending. It just took me forever. And again, I am reluctant to blame that all on the author.....

[Brian Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent premier title in series. I expected the book to introduce characters with some text on their life style and I found that part well done - including a page titled “An Inupiaq Glossary”. Nathan Active is the main character and a very dedicated Alaska State Trooper. He is also a very eligible bachelor who spends most of his time working or thinking about work. Two apparent suicides in a week are in Nathan’s thoughts and as he investigates them, he comes across enough info to prove that the deaths were murder. There are a few very dramatic chapters as all the evidence comes together that were very surprising to me. In the end, Nathan attempts to reduce the survivors’ pain. I guess the drama of the evidence solidifying could have lasted longer, but I don’t want to complain about some really solid writing. If you have interest in mysteries in unique settings, I recommend this title. The book jacket tells about Stan Jones writing like Tony Hillerman. This particular text also reminds me of Sara Paretsky. Each of these 3 authors immerse the reader in the activity and life style at the place of their mysteries very well.

[Honeyeater · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been watching the documentary series 'Life Below Zero' which follows various 'subsistence' hunters living in Alaska. When I came across this series I decided to try it out since it is also set in Alaska AND I love the covers of all the books.

So, how was the book? I found the setting enjoyable and interesting - it expanded on some of the stuff I have enjoyed about the doco series. A very interesting aspect to me was the affect or western invasion on the Inupiat people; alcohol, chronic poverty, violence, suicide. All of which are also issues with the indigenous people of my country.

As for the mystery element to the story. It was pretty basic, I guessed the 'who done it' pretty early on in the book. I also didn't feel like the way the story ended was particularly realistic... don't these places have coroners or inquests? How can one police officer just make an announcement on the cause of deaths of numerous people in one week and that is the end of the matter? Weird.

[Lynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok meaning that I finished the book. I was hoping this would be my next Alaska mystery series but this was disappointing. Not sure I will try the next one in the series. I really liked the landscape because I have been in that region. I want to read stories that have different cultural settings so I was looking forward to this too. But the characters were flat. In terms of the ending, which I will not give away, I understand why Nathan Active made the decision that he did in terms of closing the case. But it doesn't make me want to root for his career.

The romantic set-up, really just a sex set-up, was lacking in the build-up and the middle, and absent in the ending. Here is an example:

"Does this mean you decided to jump in after all? she asked with a giggle as he buried himself in her. He kissed her again and she shut up. All that energy was nice, she said a few minutes later."

Hello?

[Anne Egbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book in some ways, in others, I found it slightly simple and uninteresting. The story takes place in a very small Inupiat village in Alaska. The mystery involves a series of suicides in the village investigated by a police officer who was born in the village but immediately adopted by a white couple and grew up away only to be posted back in his birth place. There were many interesting facets of Native life in small villages, both the good sides of it and the destructive aspects of poverty, drugs and alcohol, and the many suicides. But the mystery itself and Nathan's personal relationships seemed simple and one dimensional. I would be interested to see how and if this author grew in his later books as this was apparently his first.

[Michael Compton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of suicides among the Inupiat in an isolated Alaskan settlement may be linked to troubles at the local copper mine. Hometown boy Nathan Active has returned as a police detective after being adopted as a boy by a white couple in Anchorage. His complicated background makes him an outsider among his own people, but it gives him the perspective to question the conventional wisdom that drunken suicides are a natural end for Native men. The book is packed with local politics, cultural tensions, and characters in crisis, but author Stan Jones handles it all with aplomb. The characters are appealing, the setting vivid (if often depressing), and the mystery has implications that go beyond the mere question of whodunit. It all adds up to a very satisfying read.