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Liam Campbell #6
Spoils of the Dead
'Outstanding... Rich in details of Alaskan life, history, and archaeology, this fast-paced mystery builds to a satisfying conclusion. Fans will hope they won't have to wait another eight years for Liam's next outing' Publishers Weekly , Starred Review
IT'S A NEW START FOR ALASKA STATE TROOPER LIAM CAMPBELL – BUT THE SAME OLD PROBLEMS.
It's Labor Day in Blewestown, Alaska, and it seems most of the town's thirty-five hundred residents have turned out to celebrate. Not Liam Campbell, though.
He's been in town for about a week when an archaeologist invites Liam out to his dig site. He's on the verge of a momentous discovery, one he says will be well worth the State Trooper's time.
Two days later, the archaeologist is dead, and Liam Campbell is about to learn that he's traded one troubled bush town for another.
Praise for Dana
'Cleverly conceived and crisply written thrillers that provide a provocative glimpse of life as it is lived, and justice as it is served, on America's last frontier' San Diego Union-Tribune
'No one writes more vividly about the hardships and rewards of living in the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness and the hardy but frequently flawed characters who choose to call it home' Publishers Weekly
'If you have in mind a long trip anywhere, including Alaska, this is the book to put in your backpack' Washington Times
IT'S A NEW START FOR ALASKA STATE TROOPER LIAM CAMPBELL – BUT THE SAME OLD PROBLEMS.
It's Labor Day in Blewestown, Alaska, and it seems most of the town's thirty-five hundred residents have turned out to celebrate. Not Liam Campbell, though.
He's been in town for about a week when an archaeologist invites Liam out to his dig site. He's on the verge of a momentous discovery, one he says will be well worth the State Trooper's time.
Two days later, the archaeologist is dead, and Liam Campbell is about to learn that he's traded one troubled bush town for another.
Praise for Dana
'Cleverly conceived and crisply written thrillers that provide a provocative glimpse of life as it is lived, and justice as it is served, on America's last frontier' San Diego Union-Tribune
'No one writes more vividly about the hardships and rewards of living in the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness and the hardy but frequently flawed characters who choose to call it home' Publishers Weekly
'If you have in mind a long trip anywhere, including Alaska, this is the book to put in your backpack' Washington Times
238 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 4, 2021
332 people are currently reading
435 people want to read
About the author
Dana Stabenow
104 books2,150 followersDana Stabenow was born in Anchorage and raised on 75-foot fish tender in the Gulf of Alaska. She knew there was a warmer, drier job out there somewhere.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 200 reviews
January 26, 2021
Dana Stabenow is the author of the well known Alaskan Kate Shugak series, and this lesser known State Trooper Liam Campbell series too. If you are new to the series, this, the fifth in the series is fine to read as it provides so much of the requisite background of Campbell. Here, Campbell is located to the more populous and beautiful location of Blewestown, and has purchased a home for him and his wife and pilot, Wyanet 'Wy' Chouinard, about to join him after selling her profitable flying business in Newenham. There is a detailed and lengthy focus on the history and location, both through Campbell familiarising himself with the area, and through Wy's incoming flight as she explores far and wide in her plane.
To his surprise, Liam finds he has an aide to help him, the terrifying efficient Sally Petroff, a local whose inside knowledge of the town and its residents proves to be invaluable. He meets with local police chief, Sidney Armstrong, not exactly welcoming as he tells Liam that his jurisdiction is outside the town only. The judge warns him not to engage in heavy policing and ensure that the rights of any perpetrators are adhered to, which makes him wonder if this is a issue with the local police. Liam meets the archaeologist, Erik Bergland, who has unearthed artefacts that suggest possible evidence of historical indigenous trails that he wants to see preserved under UNESCO protection, a threat to certain local interests. When Erik is discovered murdered shortly after a party thrown by famous actor, Gabe McGuire, Liam finds himself plunged in a dual mystery that goes back 30 years when the skeleton of a murdered 10 year old boy is discovered at the same time, hidden in a cave, and shockingly both murders have the same MO.
This addition to the series is spent largely establishing Liam's new location of Blewestown and introducing the new cast of locals, including a lively and colourful elderly dementia suffering resident of Sunshine Heights that both Wy and Liam take to their hearts. This is not a fast paced read, but I was enthralled by the Alaskan location, and getting to know some of the residents as Liam investigated them as potential suspects. Fans of Stabenow and this series are likely to find this an entertaining and engaging crime read as they catch up with the latest developments in the lives of Campbell and Wy. Many thanks to Head of Zeus for an ARC.
To his surprise, Liam finds he has an aide to help him, the terrifying efficient Sally Petroff, a local whose inside knowledge of the town and its residents proves to be invaluable. He meets with local police chief, Sidney Armstrong, not exactly welcoming as he tells Liam that his jurisdiction is outside the town only. The judge warns him not to engage in heavy policing and ensure that the rights of any perpetrators are adhered to, which makes him wonder if this is a issue with the local police. Liam meets the archaeologist, Erik Bergland, who has unearthed artefacts that suggest possible evidence of historical indigenous trails that he wants to see preserved under UNESCO protection, a threat to certain local interests. When Erik is discovered murdered shortly after a party thrown by famous actor, Gabe McGuire, Liam finds himself plunged in a dual mystery that goes back 30 years when the skeleton of a murdered 10 year old boy is discovered at the same time, hidden in a cave, and shockingly both murders have the same MO.
This addition to the series is spent largely establishing Liam's new location of Blewestown and introducing the new cast of locals, including a lively and colourful elderly dementia suffering resident of Sunshine Heights that both Wy and Liam take to their hearts. This is not a fast paced read, but I was enthralled by the Alaskan location, and getting to know some of the residents as Liam investigated them as potential suspects. Fans of Stabenow and this series are likely to find this an entertaining and engaging crime read as they catch up with the latest developments in the lives of Campbell and Wy. Many thanks to Head of Zeus for an ARC.
February 13, 2021
Stabenow's series about Liam Campbell have been among my favorites for years, and I've been looking forward to reading this one. But, sadly, Spoils of the Dead just doesn't measure up. Roughly a third of the book is descriptions of the landscape, the characters are barely filled in and Bill is gone. There just isn't much there to get hold of. Ms. Stabenow hinted that COVID-19 put a damper on her writing, and that this manuscript was months late. Maybe her publisher should have given her more time to fill in the outline.
February 4, 2021
Spoils of the Dead is the fifth instalment in the Liam Campbell series and is another richly-atmospheric and immersive thriller set in Alaska. Newenham is an ice-bound bush town with a six-bed jail, a busted ATM and a saloon that does double-duty as a courtroom. It's a wide-enough patch to warrant a state police presence, though, and Trooper Liam Campbell is it. Campbell has been exiled from Anchorage to Newenham in disgrace, busted down from sergeant to trooper in the aftermath of a mistake that cost a family of five their lives, to spend some time in the wilderness. Campbell didn't expect the job to be simple and it hasn't. From the (literally) cutthroat business of commercial fishing, to the paranoid misanthropy of the back-country prospector, to drug dealers, serial killers, and caches of forgotten war gold, he has had his hands full. Now he has a dead archaeologist, murdered at their own dig site, who claimed to be on the verge of a momentous discovery. Fans of the icy frontier, of mystery tinged with a frisson of romance, of laconic lawmen with good intentions, of tai chi and small aircraft piloting take note: Liam Campbell is for you.
This is a riveting, compulsive and thoroughly original thriller with a twisty and exciting plotline and an equally interesting cast of quirky characters. In fact, one of the biggest characters is the stunning, sparse Alaskan landscape and the descriptions that simply take your breath away; I was able to imagine myself there effortlessly without having ever been before purely from the author's delightful descriptions. It all makes for an entertaining and captivating read from the get-go and is packed full of action, emotion and red herrings, not to mention the surprisingly engaging tidbits related to archaeological digs and the painstaking process involved in them. Liam is swiftly becoming a multilayered character right before our eyes, and it was nice to see a softer side to him too but he's really feeling it after making the biggest mistake of his career and it costing a family their lives. An enthralling, exhilarating and thoroughly entertaining page-turner. I also enjoyed that the story was told solely from first-person perspective as it allows you to become immersed quickly and easily in everything that's going on as though you're experiencing it right alongside Liam. This series is something a little different and unique, so I hope the author will carry on writing it for many years to come. Highly recommended.
This is a riveting, compulsive and thoroughly original thriller with a twisty and exciting plotline and an equally interesting cast of quirky characters. In fact, one of the biggest characters is the stunning, sparse Alaskan landscape and the descriptions that simply take your breath away; I was able to imagine myself there effortlessly without having ever been before purely from the author's delightful descriptions. It all makes for an entertaining and captivating read from the get-go and is packed full of action, emotion and red herrings, not to mention the surprisingly engaging tidbits related to archaeological digs and the painstaking process involved in them. Liam is swiftly becoming a multilayered character right before our eyes, and it was nice to see a softer side to him too but he's really feeling it after making the biggest mistake of his career and it costing a family their lives. An enthralling, exhilarating and thoroughly entertaining page-turner. I also enjoyed that the story was told solely from first-person perspective as it allows you to become immersed quickly and easily in everything that's going on as though you're experiencing it right alongside Liam. This series is something a little different and unique, so I hope the author will carry on writing it for many years to come. Highly recommended.
February 23, 2021
I am giving this book one star and frankly that is a gift. I'm not even sure why a writer that is as good as Ms. Stabenow has been in the past would publish something like this that is at best half done. Her publisher also should be ashamed of releasing it. They should have sent it back to her and told her that if she wanted to be paid for writing a book, then she needs to actually write one. The only good thing I can say about it is that when she does bother to actually try to create the mystery, it is good, which of course makes it more frustrating because the overall premise of the case is pretty interesting. It could have been a good book if she had actually bothered to write it. Instead of a book we get bits and pieces of a story with pages and pages of descriptions, comments on previous books, and comments on other characters that are not actually in this book.
Even Ms. Stabenow seemed to understand that the book is subpar and at the end of the book claims the Covid pandemic made writing difficult. Everyone else that is fortunate enough to have a job has had to deal with that and still manages to do their job and the other million things they have to do every day, but evidently that was just too much to accomplish for Ms. Stabenow. I would think writing would be one of the easier things to still do during a pandemic since you do not have to go to an office or be around other people, but perhaps I'm wrong.
She did manage to write this gem. "On that deck, stood a skinny guy in a MAGA cap taking a leak. He saw them and waved hello with his penis, creating a sparkly arc that showered the pit bull barking ferociously...." Now to put this in context. She never mentions the MAGA wearing guy who pees on his dog prior to that or after that. In fact that whole sequence of events had absolutely nothing to do with anything else in the story. I personally do not care who Ms. Stabenow supports politically. I happened to vote for Trump, and I have to say that I have never peed on my dog or any other pet. I know lots of other people that did vote and did not vote for Trump and none of them to my knowledge have peed on their pet. In fact the only time in my entire life that I have heard of anyone peeing on a pet is from Ms. Stabenow in this book. In fact the only one peeing on anyone is Ms. Stabenow peeing on her fans by actually printing this poor excuse of a book. I paid full price for and preordered this book as I have for all of Ms. Stabenow's mysteries, but I am done supporting an idiot that was too trifling to actually write a book and instead just made a money grab to support her elitist lifestyle in Hawaii.
Even Ms. Stabenow seemed to understand that the book is subpar and at the end of the book claims the Covid pandemic made writing difficult. Everyone else that is fortunate enough to have a job has had to deal with that and still manages to do their job and the other million things they have to do every day, but evidently that was just too much to accomplish for Ms. Stabenow. I would think writing would be one of the easier things to still do during a pandemic since you do not have to go to an office or be around other people, but perhaps I'm wrong.
She did manage to write this gem. "On that deck, stood a skinny guy in a MAGA cap taking a leak. He saw them and waved hello with his penis, creating a sparkly arc that showered the pit bull barking ferociously...." Now to put this in context. She never mentions the MAGA wearing guy who pees on his dog prior to that or after that. In fact that whole sequence of events had absolutely nothing to do with anything else in the story. I personally do not care who Ms. Stabenow supports politically. I happened to vote for Trump, and I have to say that I have never peed on my dog or any other pet. I know lots of other people that did vote and did not vote for Trump and none of them to my knowledge have peed on their pet. In fact the only time in my entire life that I have heard of anyone peeing on a pet is from Ms. Stabenow in this book. In fact the only one peeing on anyone is Ms. Stabenow peeing on her fans by actually printing this poor excuse of a book. I paid full price for and preordered this book as I have for all of Ms. Stabenow's mysteries, but I am done supporting an idiot that was too trifling to actually write a book and instead just made a money grab to support her elitist lifestyle in Hawaii.
February 19, 2021
I have read everything (almost?) by this author, and I have loved all of her stories, Kate is best, but Liam and Wy are a delight, and even the early scifi series has its charm. Silk and Song was epic and beautiful, Isis was charming.
But this book misses the mark. It's been many years since the previous book was published, but the book picks up only a year later. However, everything has changed. Liam and Wy are now in a new town, with many new characters to meet. These run the full range of normal to wacky, and basically recreate the previous townspeople in a new location.
The mystery is fairly simple, and it's not solved by our heroes. The resolution is unsatisfying and sad.
If this was not a favored author, I'd say that this is a good start to a new series, and I was looking forward to the adventures that follow.
Note that a good chunk of my disappointment is due to my re-reading #4 immediately before this one, to refresh myself of the setting and characters. This made the disconnect much more jarring. In my heart, this rates as 2-stars, but I know it's well written and the descriptions of Alaska and the specific setting are breathtaking as always.
But this book misses the mark. It's been many years since the previous book was published, but the book picks up only a year later. However, everything has changed. Liam and Wy are now in a new town, with many new characters to meet. These run the full range of normal to wacky, and basically recreate the previous townspeople in a new location.
The mystery is fairly simple, and it's not solved by our heroes. The resolution is unsatisfying and sad.
If this was not a favored author, I'd say that this is a good start to a new series, and I was looking forward to the adventures that follow.
Note that a good chunk of my disappointment is due to my re-reading #4 immediately before this one, to refresh myself of the setting and characters. This made the disconnect much more jarring. In my heart, this rates as 2-stars, but I know it's well written and the descriptions of Alaska and the specific setting are breathtaking as always.
March 22, 2023
Spoils of the Dead by Dana Stabenow was the last book in the series about Liam Campbell and Kate Shugak I had to read. Now I sit down and wait for some new adventures in these two great series. In this book Liam has a change of post and starts over in a new town with new and old mysteries. I really liked this book as well as the others. and hope that there will be more in the future. I can really recommend these.
March 8, 2021
I want to thank Kaye Publicity for sending me this final copy of Spoils of the Dead the 5th book in the Liam Campbell series by Dana Stabenow for an honest review.
Before agreeing to read this book, I read a handful of reviews here on Goodreads to determine whether or not I would need to read this book in order to understand story and characters. Those reviewers were correct, however I think it is better to have read Campbell's backstory before entering into the fifth book in the series.
The story starts off with a move. Campbell is from the town of Newenham and moves to Blewestown where his boss has stationed him as the new Trooper. He is supposed to fix up the drug problem (meth) and isn't very happy about it; neither is the Chief of Police. He has specifically stated he doesn't need Campbell's help and to stay out of the way. Before Campbell officially starts his new job there is a murder at a digsite being run by a local archeologist Erik Berglund.
The story is half murder mystery, half romance. I wasn't expecting that when I picked up the book.
This is one of the reasons for the 3 star rating.
Let's talk about the murder mystery. It's a small town and everyone knows everyone. That is what happens in all small towns. When Erik is found dead, no one has an idea who could possibly have had reason to kill him. The town people aren't really interested in finding out the mystery and just go about there day. Now ....in all of the murder mysteries or crime books that I have read that is about right. The only times the public is worried about a death is if it's a serial killer. So I can imagine a man who wasn't much liked among the town, for them to really care about his death or be curious in how it happened. With all murders though Campbell goes about interviewing and getting alibi's of all the people that saw him last. There's not much to go on. As the book moves through the days of the week and we get closer to a conclusion you start guessing who the killer is. There is a object that pops up a few times that makes sense to the investigation. At this point I knew who the killer was and when we find out at the end, it's a bit anticlimactic. The reason being we get closure, but do we really?
The other part of this story is the love and happy marriage between Liam Cambell and his wife Wyanet Chouinard. They are madly in love. Have been married for many years. They have a healthy sex life and make oogly eyes at each other every chance they get. It's not often you read of a healthy and happy marriage that has give and take equally. Wy is a pilot and used to own her own air taxi service before leaving her past to follow Liam to Blewestown. Liam speaks a lot of his wife and his wife is very supportive on his latest case. She helps by flying Erik's body to the medical examiner and goes with Liam during some of his interviews with the natives. Kind of using the fact his wife is part indigenous to get the natives to speak more freely.
Overall the book was just mediocre. I feel bad saying that and I might have enjoyed it more as a series instead of a stand alone. The descriptions of Alaska from a thousand feet was hard to follow especially since most of the towns and mountain ranges aren't mentioned in the map provided at the beginning of the book. For an Outsider I was hoping to imagine the pristine wilderness and the meandering rivers and mountain ranges, but the way Wy describes her scenery from the air is too hard to follow. I'm sure if you are from Alaska its easy, but I didn't get the sense of where Wy was flying because I had no reference point. The whole murder case was a bit disappointing. There isn't much action to follow and everyone seems disinterested, which makes the reader disinterested. Lastly, the characters are all pretty lack luster. There isn't much back story to the people in the town. We get who they are, but all the traits could be put on an index card. There's no meat. There was too much telling of the characters, situations and scenery instead of showing us.
I don't think Stabenow is a bad writer, this just wasn't my cup of tea. If you are interested in reading a crime series set in Alaska with a wholesome marriage then definitely pick up this book.
Before agreeing to read this book, I read a handful of reviews here on Goodreads to determine whether or not I would need to read this book in order to understand story and characters. Those reviewers were correct, however I think it is better to have read Campbell's backstory before entering into the fifth book in the series.
The story starts off with a move. Campbell is from the town of Newenham and moves to Blewestown where his boss has stationed him as the new Trooper. He is supposed to fix up the drug problem (meth) and isn't very happy about it; neither is the Chief of Police. He has specifically stated he doesn't need Campbell's help and to stay out of the way. Before Campbell officially starts his new job there is a murder at a digsite being run by a local archeologist Erik Berglund.
The story is half murder mystery, half romance. I wasn't expecting that when I picked up the book.
This is one of the reasons for the 3 star rating.
Let's talk about the murder mystery. It's a small town and everyone knows everyone. That is what happens in all small towns. When Erik is found dead, no one has an idea who could possibly have had reason to kill him. The town people aren't really interested in finding out the mystery and just go about there day. Now ....in all of the murder mysteries or crime books that I have read that is about right. The only times the public is worried about a death is if it's a serial killer. So I can imagine a man who wasn't much liked among the town, for them to really care about his death or be curious in how it happened. With all murders though Campbell goes about interviewing and getting alibi's of all the people that saw him last. There's not much to go on. As the book moves through the days of the week and we get closer to a conclusion you start guessing who the killer is. There is a object that pops up a few times that makes sense to the investigation. At this point I knew who the killer was and when we find out at the end, it's a bit anticlimactic. The reason being we get closure, but do we really?
The other part of this story is the love and happy marriage between Liam Cambell and his wife Wyanet Chouinard. They are madly in love. Have been married for many years. They have a healthy sex life and make oogly eyes at each other every chance they get. It's not often you read of a healthy and happy marriage that has give and take equally. Wy is a pilot and used to own her own air taxi service before leaving her past to follow Liam to Blewestown. Liam speaks a lot of his wife and his wife is very supportive on his latest case. She helps by flying Erik's body to the medical examiner and goes with Liam during some of his interviews with the natives. Kind of using the fact his wife is part indigenous to get the natives to speak more freely.
Overall the book was just mediocre. I feel bad saying that and I might have enjoyed it more as a series instead of a stand alone. The descriptions of Alaska from a thousand feet was hard to follow especially since most of the towns and mountain ranges aren't mentioned in the map provided at the beginning of the book. For an Outsider I was hoping to imagine the pristine wilderness and the meandering rivers and mountain ranges, but the way Wy describes her scenery from the air is too hard to follow. I'm sure if you are from Alaska its easy, but I didn't get the sense of where Wy was flying because I had no reference point. The whole murder case was a bit disappointing. There isn't much action to follow and everyone seems disinterested, which makes the reader disinterested. Lastly, the characters are all pretty lack luster. There isn't much back story to the people in the town. We get who they are, but all the traits could be put on an index card. There's no meat. There was too much telling of the characters, situations and scenery instead of showing us.
I don't think Stabenow is a bad writer, this just wasn't my cup of tea. If you are interested in reading a crime series set in Alaska with a wholesome marriage then definitely pick up this book.
December 5, 2024
I'm editing this review to add this disclaimer: I bought this book (pre-ordered it) before there was any synopsis for it. Had there been one, I wouldn't have been so shocked and disappointed with this book...no, actually, I still would have been disappointed.
What a disappointment. Other than Liam still being a Trooper-everything else has changed. I feel like I missed one or two books. Apparently, a number of years have gone by, and we are only treated to the briefest of explanations of what happened to some of our most beloved characters.
Wy has sold her business and is at loose ends (no job other than being Liams 'wife'), and they have moved into a big city -no real explanation for that other than they were tired of living where they were. Tim doesn't even live with them anymore, and there is only a brief phone call between him and Wy. But Jo is still around and an even bigger bitch than she was in the past books.
The mystery was so easy to solve that a toddler could have figured it out. I'm just about positive that I won't be buying any more books in this particular series. The only reason I didn't give it a one-star rating is that I managed to finish it without splitting a gut laughing.
What a disappointment. Other than Liam still being a Trooper-everything else has changed. I feel like I missed one or two books. Apparently, a number of years have gone by, and we are only treated to the briefest of explanations of what happened to some of our most beloved characters.
Wy has sold her business and is at loose ends (no job other than being Liams 'wife'), and they have moved into a big city -no real explanation for that other than they were tired of living where they were. Tim doesn't even live with them anymore, and there is only a brief phone call between him and Wy. But Jo is still around and an even bigger bitch than she was in the past books.
The mystery was so easy to solve that a toddler could have figured it out. I'm just about positive that I won't be buying any more books in this particular series. The only reason I didn't give it a one-star rating is that I managed to finish it without splitting a gut laughing.
January 28, 2021
2.5 rounded to a 3⭐
[I received a physical copy for an honest review]
Spoils of the Dead by Dana Stabenow is the 5th book in her Liam Campbell mystery series. Why Amanda did you request book 5 when you haven't read the first four? When the PR company offered me it to review all it had was the name, author and synopsis and the synopsis doesn't say it's a series. When I went on goodreads and saw it was book 5 I said why not because a few of the early review said I would be fine going into without reading the others. While I guess this is technically true I might have cared more about the main leads if I had.
Now onto my reading experience. I almost DNF'd it on page 12 with the not so tasteful description of a female given by the male lead Liam Campbell. A direct quote from him about her was "those amazing breasts thrust out in front of her like bazookas taking aim." yeah real classy and off the bat made me not care for him. Alas, I continued on because the synopsis had sounded good, so I figured the mystery would make up for it. Fortunately it did, but it didn't actually begin until 100 pages in, up until then we are given lengthy descriptions of everything. I mean EVERYTHING , just one example Liam Campbell drives from point A to point B and the drive itself takes up 5 long paragraphs. I am all for descriptions but there's such a thing as too much in my opinion.
You're probably wondering how I gave this 3 stars. Firstly because I think that if you're a fan of this series then this installment would have pleased you. The mystery was actually interesting, and I enjoyed the path to discovering who was responsible. While the end was anticlimactic, it obviously was supposed to be. The main characters comment about not getting shot this time which leads me to believe the past books had outcomes with a lot more action. I also quite liked the female lead Wyn, she's Liam Campbell's wife, and while I didn't like him , I liked the chemistry and repertoire they had between them. I also liked that she was an active member of the story, helping him at times with the investigation.
Will I continue this series? No, but I do think if you're a fan of the Liam Campbell mysteries series than you'll find this to be a nice edition.
[I received a physical copy for an honest review]
Spoils of the Dead by Dana Stabenow is the 5th book in her Liam Campbell mystery series. Why Amanda did you request book 5 when you haven't read the first four? When the PR company offered me it to review all it had was the name, author and synopsis and the synopsis doesn't say it's a series. When I went on goodreads and saw it was book 5 I said why not because a few of the early review said I would be fine going into without reading the others. While I guess this is technically true I might have cared more about the main leads if I had.
Now onto my reading experience. I almost DNF'd it on page 12 with the not so tasteful description of a female given by the male lead Liam Campbell. A direct quote from him about her was "those amazing breasts thrust out in front of her like bazookas taking aim." yeah real classy and off the bat made me not care for him. Alas, I continued on because the synopsis had sounded good, so I figured the mystery would make up for it. Fortunately it did, but it didn't actually begin until 100 pages in, up until then we are given lengthy descriptions of everything. I mean EVERYTHING , just one example Liam Campbell drives from point A to point B and the drive itself takes up 5 long paragraphs. I am all for descriptions but there's such a thing as too much in my opinion.
You're probably wondering how I gave this 3 stars. Firstly because I think that if you're a fan of this series then this installment would have pleased you. The mystery was actually interesting, and I enjoyed the path to discovering who was responsible. While the end was anticlimactic, it obviously was supposed to be. The main characters comment about not getting shot this time which leads me to believe the past books had outcomes with a lot more action. I also quite liked the female lead Wyn, she's Liam Campbell's wife, and while I didn't like him , I liked the chemistry and repertoire they had between them. I also liked that she was an active member of the story, helping him at times with the investigation.
Will I continue this series? No, but I do think if you're a fan of the Liam Campbell mysteries series than you'll find this to be a nice edition.
February 11, 2021
A great disappointment from one of my favorite authors. Most of the problems with this book result from a skimpy story line...it would have made a great short story. There's simply not enough story to sustain a novel and Stabenow did a lot of things to fill in the text. There's a great deal of information on Alaska history and topography/geology (especially character Wy's view from her plane), the various ring tones the characters use on their phones, and Liam and Wy's sex life. Reference is made to previous stories and characters without explanation. Though I've read all of Dana Stabenow's books, I don't always remember what happened, and she did nothing to refresh the my mind. If this was my first Dana Stabenow book, I probably wouldn't read another. I'll chock this up to Covid 19, like everything else that went wrong in 2020.
July 12, 2024
I so enjoy Stabenow's loving descriptions of Alaska. Makes me want to experience it as her characters do. Maybe with fewer murders, though!
February 7, 2021
I almost didn't make it past an information dump early on. The mind-numbing description of the scenery as Wy flies toward her new home was totally unnecessary. After that, however, and the murder required to make this a murder mystery, things picked up, although I'm not sure why Liam didn't catch on to a couple of things much earlier. Even I figured out one of them, and I'm notoriously bad at spotting clues. That said, anyone who has enjoyed Stabenow's previous Liam Campbell mysteries will certainly like this one.
June 25, 2021
I've always wanted to go to Alaska, honestly, it just seems like SUCH a cool place to live, and so when I had a chance to read a mystery set there, I was sold. Again, this is book 5 in a series, but outside of not quite connecting with Liam as deeply as someone might who was 5 books in, I did enjoy the story for this specific book. Also, I'm a huge history and archeology nerd, I'm interested in all that stuff so the premise for this book hooked me from there. It does have some slow moments, but Liam was good. He was a disconnected, semi-disgruntled State Trooper man who seems to have been through a lot, and really just wants to live his life without any drama, but it just doesn't seem to happen. I'm assuming he's been through the wringer before this book. There was some info dump that can be offputting, but just push past it, it's worth it.
I will suggest that this is a bit more of a book in line with a Dean Kootz, John Grisham type style, some parts are slow, you have to really want to dig into the scenery, the small town, the daily lives. The ending didn't shock me, but I like stories that wrap up so that worked for me. It had that vibe for me in the writing. Solid writing, good story, a variety of characters some who stick out more than others, but it is a mystery with beautiful scenery and that alone is worth checking out. This for me is a 3.5, and I'm rounding up to 4, because I know there's an audience that likes this type, but I don't think it was 100% for me, but the mystery and detective work was interesting.
I will suggest that this is a bit more of a book in line with a Dean Kootz, John Grisham type style, some parts are slow, you have to really want to dig into the scenery, the small town, the daily lives. The ending didn't shock me, but I like stories that wrap up so that worked for me. It had that vibe for me in the writing. Solid writing, good story, a variety of characters some who stick out more than others, but it is a mystery with beautiful scenery and that alone is worth checking out. This for me is a 3.5, and I'm rounding up to 4, because I know there's an audience that likes this type, but I don't think it was 100% for me, but the mystery and detective work was interesting.
February 7, 2021
not worth the wait, sorry Dana.
April 5, 2024
Spoils of the Dead
Back in Alaska again, this is Liam Campbell, the Alaskan State Trooper (mostly out of uniform) newly planted in Blewstown. It is such a small town that there are no secrets, well maybe except from Liam. But mostly everyone knows what Liam doesn't. It's a homicide that has to be solved, one today and the other 30 years ago but somehow tied together.
Where do these plots come from?
4 Stars
Happy Reading!
Back in Alaska again, this is Liam Campbell, the Alaskan State Trooper (mostly out of uniform) newly planted in Blewstown. It is such a small town that there are no secrets, well maybe except from Liam. But mostly everyone knows what Liam doesn't. It's a homicide that has to be solved, one today and the other 30 years ago but somehow tied together.
Where do these plots come from?
4 Stars
Happy Reading!
March 2, 2021
What a refreshing change to read a story that presents some really serious crimes but the main character doesn’t fire, let alone draw, his gun. He uses all the resources at his command and we find out what happened.
May 21, 2021
Liam Campbell is a State Trooper in Alaska. He and his wife have just moved to a new town called Blewestown. Liam's wife Wy is a pilot. They have bought a new house and are having a short vacation before getting back to work.
After about a week Liam is invited to see the archeological dig of Erik Bergland just outside of town.
He says he is about to come up with a huge new discovery about the natives use of the area.
A couple days later the archeologist is found dead at the dig site.
A lot of Alaska history and tales of the area. Its obvious the author knows her state!
An interesting crime novel which slowly develops a little at a time and gives the reader a real taste of the history and feeling of the people that live in Alaska.
After about a week Liam is invited to see the archeological dig of Erik Bergland just outside of town.
He says he is about to come up with a huge new discovery about the natives use of the area.
A couple days later the archeologist is found dead at the dig site.
A lot of Alaska history and tales of the area. Its obvious the author knows her state!
An interesting crime novel which slowly develops a little at a time and gives the reader a real taste of the history and feeling of the people that live in Alaska.
June 19, 2021
I ended this book thinking, 'Well that was nice but...'
The nice parts:
It was good to meet Liam Campbell again and to see him and Wy, still very much in lust with one another, making a new start in a different part of Alaska and to catch up with some of the characters from other books who play minor roles in this one.
Dana Stabenow made me fall in love with the Alaskan landscape (which I've never seen) all over again. Quite a bit of the book was spent on descriptions of the geography, history and wildlife of the area and I enjoyed all of it.
I loved meeting Sybilla, a colourful old woman who is fun to be with when her dementia releases its grip. I liked that Liam treated her with respect, even though she was walking the streets naked when she first tapped on his truck's window and that Wy made her into a friend and that Dana Stabenow made her a key character in unravelling the mystery.
I love way Dana Stabenow writes. Her style is accessible without being sparse. Her portraits of people are vivid and there is a constant undercurrent of humour and compassion in the face of the ugliness that Liam's job inevitably brings him into contact with. I always feel as if she's piloting me effortlessly through the story, which may be why I always want to read one more chapter and end up reading late into the night.
The But... parts:
What there was was fun but there wasn't that much of it. The book is only 207 pages long and seemed to come to a close just as I had slipped into Liam's new situation. I'd hoped this would be a sort of pilot for rebooting a series of Liam books. It had the right set-up for it but I think it needed to be longer to get the new situation established.
The mystery is interesting and sad and the explanation is clever BUT Liam could almost have solved this one without leaving the office and the conclusion was pretty much handed to him. Dana Stabenow managed to wrap some humour around the fact that this time Liam wasn't throwing himself out of a plane or off a boat or being shot at or even wrecking another uniform but that also meant that Liam was never under threat and never had to do more than ask questions. That his questions didn't, in the end, give him the solution may be true to life but it was a little anticlimactic.
On the other hand...
I enjoyed myself for six hours, listening to Margeurite Gavin's narration. It was good entertainment and I'll be there to read the next Liam book when Dana Stabenow writes it.
Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear an extract from the book and get a feel for its tone.
https://soundcloud.com/audiolibrary-a......
The nice parts:
It was good to meet Liam Campbell again and to see him and Wy, still very much in lust with one another, making a new start in a different part of Alaska and to catch up with some of the characters from other books who play minor roles in this one.
Dana Stabenow made me fall in love with the Alaskan landscape (which I've never seen) all over again. Quite a bit of the book was spent on descriptions of the geography, history and wildlife of the area and I enjoyed all of it.
I loved meeting Sybilla, a colourful old woman who is fun to be with when her dementia releases its grip. I liked that Liam treated her with respect, even though she was walking the streets naked when she first tapped on his truck's window and that Wy made her into a friend and that Dana Stabenow made her a key character in unravelling the mystery.
I love way Dana Stabenow writes. Her style is accessible without being sparse. Her portraits of people are vivid and there is a constant undercurrent of humour and compassion in the face of the ugliness that Liam's job inevitably brings him into contact with. I always feel as if she's piloting me effortlessly through the story, which may be why I always want to read one more chapter and end up reading late into the night.
The But... parts:
What there was was fun but there wasn't that much of it. The book is only 207 pages long and seemed to come to a close just as I had slipped into Liam's new situation. I'd hoped this would be a sort of pilot for rebooting a series of Liam books. It had the right set-up for it but I think it needed to be longer to get the new situation established.
The mystery is interesting and sad and the explanation is clever BUT Liam could almost have solved this one without leaving the office and the conclusion was pretty much handed to him. Dana Stabenow managed to wrap some humour around the fact that this time Liam wasn't throwing himself out of a plane or off a boat or being shot at or even wrecking another uniform but that also meant that Liam was never under threat and never had to do more than ask questions. That his questions didn't, in the end, give him the solution may be true to life but it was a little anticlimactic.
On the other hand...
I enjoyed myself for six hours, listening to Margeurite Gavin's narration. It was good entertainment and I'll be there to read the next Liam book when Dana Stabenow writes it.
Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear an extract from the book and get a feel for its tone.
https://soundcloud.com/audiolibrary-a......
January 28, 2021
Trooper Liam Campbell has been exiled to a small town in Alaska. He is not fully welcome there either, and he's being told his jurisdiction is outside of town. Luckily, and a bit to his surprise, he has a local woman, Sally, helping him with the office work. A boy finds old bones, and when Liam checks it out he finds a fresh body there as well.
Set in the Alaskan wilderness you can feel the breeze and the open spaces. The book is more an steadily forward moving story than a suspense book. It is well written and an easy read. It takes a while setting the scene, and the story itself begins later than expected. In a book like this it does not bother me that much, since it gives the backstory, which I very much needed because I haven't read the previous books in the series.
I would like to get to know the town and its people better. I very much enjoyed the atmosphere and the slow pace of life. I would have liked to have a bit more suspense and the story to focus more on the mystery itself. The ending was given like a meal on a plate at a lunch cafe. i would have like to have to work on it a bit more myself. In general it's a good, entertaining read. 3,5 stars
Set in the Alaskan wilderness you can feel the breeze and the open spaces. The book is more an steadily forward moving story than a suspense book. It is well written and an easy read. It takes a while setting the scene, and the story itself begins later than expected. In a book like this it does not bother me that much, since it gives the backstory, which I very much needed because I haven't read the previous books in the series.
I would like to get to know the town and its people better. I very much enjoyed the atmosphere and the slow pace of life. I would have liked to have a bit more suspense and the story to focus more on the mystery itself. The ending was given like a meal on a plate at a lunch cafe. i would have like to have to work on it a bit more myself. In general it's a good, entertaining read. 3,5 stars
January 19, 2022
This was a disappointment.
The book was short, with a good portion of it consisting of descriptions which sometimes went on for pages at a time. The mystery was scant, Liam showed little energy in investigating, and the solution, complete with explanations, was handed to him by another character at the end.
It’s hard to believe the author of so many great mystery novels—especially in the Kate Shugak series—wrote this book. During the story, Liam admitted he was ambivalent about his future plans, unsure if he wanted to continue as a trooper or retire. Perhaps Ms. Stabenow likewise is torn. If so, it was not a great idea to force herself to write—and publish—a book, contract deadlines or not.
The book was short, with a good portion of it consisting of descriptions which sometimes went on for pages at a time. The mystery was scant, Liam showed little energy in investigating, and the solution, complete with explanations, was handed to him by another character at the end.
It’s hard to believe the author of so many great mystery novels—especially in the Kate Shugak series—wrote this book. During the story, Liam admitted he was ambivalent about his future plans, unsure if he wanted to continue as a trooper or retire. Perhaps Ms. Stabenow likewise is torn. If so, it was not a great idea to force herself to write—and publish—a book, contract deadlines or not.
December 24, 2025
This feel like a transitional book in lot of ways.
We have a bit of a time jump from the last book and for those who have not read the crossover with Kate Shugak titled Restless in the Grave will be a bit confused over what has happened to Moses. With Moses gone Bill his lover and the local magistrate as well as Liam and Wy's good friend has sold her bar and moved to New Orleans.........as she always talked of doing. Liam meanwhile he been offered a new posting. It's in another coastal town but this one is closer to Anchorage and actually has paved roads, there's also much larger population especially in the summer. So .................. The couple well up in Newenham including At selling her air taxi buisness, though she keeps the planes as she's not sure if her plans in the new town. Just days.after their arrival Liam finds himself in the unfortunate position of having to investigate a murder the almost carried out on his own doorstep...............
We have a bit of a time jump from the last book and for those who have not read the crossover with Kate Shugak titled Restless in the Grave will be a bit confused over what has happened to Moses. With Moses gone Bill his lover and the local magistrate as well as Liam and Wy's good friend has sold her bar and moved to New Orleans.........as she always talked of doing. Liam meanwhile he been offered a new posting. It's in another coastal town but this one is closer to Anchorage and actually has paved roads, there's also much larger population especially in the summer. So .................. The couple well up in Newenham including At selling her air taxi buisness, though she keeps the planes as she's not sure if her plans in the new town. Just days.after their arrival Liam finds himself in the unfortunate position of having to investigate a murder the almost carried out on his own doorstep...............
February 5, 2021
Yes!!
Tension.
Hidden relationships, loves, the oldest problems in the world.
All acted out by carefully created people going through normal, extraordinary lives.
This author has created a world I love to inhabit. Her writing is strong enough that I can completely enter that world, no matter what changes she makes to it, as I read her words.
Congratulations lady.
You did it again.
Tension.
Hidden relationships, loves, the oldest problems in the world.
All acted out by carefully created people going through normal, extraordinary lives.
This author has created a world I love to inhabit. Her writing is strong enough that I can completely enter that world, no matter what changes she makes to it, as I read her words.
Congratulations lady.
You did it again.
May 7, 2021
It has been a long dry spell for the Liam Campbell series, but here he is, back, still with his wife Wy, and moved to a new location on the Kenai. They discover some long forgotten bones in a cave, and then the body of the man excavating the cave, and Liam starts to investigate a murder almost before his posting starts. There is a friendship that he and Wy develop at the local assisted living complex that is a nice side touch to the series.
August 29, 2024
I love this series. Rating this one 3.5 stars though. Once the introduction of the new locale was finished, it felt like there wasn't a lot of book left. There wasn't as much adventure in the story as the previous installments. I did enjoy finding out how Wy and Liam settled into a life together. I just wish there was "more" in this book.
September 9, 2021
It's been awhile since I read the previous Liam Campbell book, and this book didn't do a particularly efficient job of filling in the blanks. Nonetheless, I liked it.
March 12, 2022
Too much fluff to fill the pages
March 3, 2021
I’m a bit disappointed. In anticipation of this new Liam Campbell story I reread the entire series. Reading the stories one right after the other, I had several realizations. THe Liam stories are shorter and lighter weight than the Kate Shugak books, with more humor, mostly at Liam’s expense. This story just seemed like less of everything. Less actual story, less mystery, less Alaska. I’m going to guess that this is the effect of the first year of COVID on an author. How does depression affect one’s writing?
In this story, Ms. Stabenow has relocated Liam & Wy from inland Newenham to bayside Blewestown, from an old school 500 sq ft (?) home on a bluff overlooking a river to a nearly 2,000 sq ft very modern home on a bluff overlooking the bay. Newenham was mostly Yupik native, B-town is mostly white. It very much feels like a reboot of the Liam series, almost 10 years on for us since the last Liam story, only a year in his life. But it feels like a completely different non-location, like they could be living in almost any small town tourist location. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
As for the story itself. There’s not much of a mystery, and so much more of a history/travelogue of the area. So Much More. I think I could draw a map of the town and it’s surrounds, and I could write an essay about it’s history. The problem is I don’t feel the need to have that in depth knowledge of this town or bay.
Liam says he is 2 years away from retirement. He now lives in a sleepy town with very little crime, Wy has sold her air taxi business, if not her planes. Maybe this is the end cap of the Liam Campbell series? Although this is the weakest book of the series, I will read the next one, if there is another.
In this story, Ms. Stabenow has relocated Liam & Wy from inland Newenham to bayside Blewestown, from an old school 500 sq ft (?) home on a bluff overlooking a river to a nearly 2,000 sq ft very modern home on a bluff overlooking the bay. Newenham was mostly Yupik native, B-town is mostly white. It very much feels like a reboot of the Liam series, almost 10 years on for us since the last Liam story, only a year in his life. But it feels like a completely different non-location, like they could be living in almost any small town tourist location. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
As for the story itself. There’s not much of a mystery, and so much more of a history/travelogue of the area. So Much More. I think I could draw a map of the town and it’s surrounds, and I could write an essay about it’s history. The problem is I don’t feel the need to have that in depth knowledge of this town or bay.
Liam says he is 2 years away from retirement. He now lives in a sleepy town with very little crime, Wy has sold her air taxi business, if not her planes. Maybe this is the end cap of the Liam Campbell series? Although this is the weakest book of the series, I will read the next one, if there is another.
April 12, 2021
Liam Campbell, Alaska state trooper, has made it out of Newenham to a new posting picked just for him by his supervisor. It is not a good thing. Campbell's wife had to sell her air taxi service. But when a body turns up at a local archaeological site and then a 50-year old body is also discovered, things begin to heat up.
February 25, 2021
Enjoyable, but a huge part of the book is taken up with descriptions of the land, the town, and the general terrain. Could have used less of it. Campbell has moved to a new community and a good bit of the book introduces all the new people he meets. The mystery part seemed to take a distant third to the land and the characters. Read some Liam Campbell long, long ago, but have no particular memories. Liked this enough would go back and read or reread earlier books.
Read
March 10, 2021i finally quit reading about page 220 or so, it was so bad, what ever came next wouldn't make up for the bore the previous pages were, was it a cozy mystery?, or a romantic mystery?, all that describing of driving around, and flying around, wasting pages with endless descriptions, and silly interrogations, and liam's mind, faced with the amazon ceo or jo, wy's friend, he sounds like a high school boy in heat, maybe this was some infantile harold robbins tossed in for word count, certainly not for meaning.
even the editing was messy, i thought this was written by a few teenagers and dana stabenow, put her name on it, why i don't know, i don't know how this book could have been published in the 1st place, no stars at all, what is less than stars, half moons?? it did put me to sleep several times, so awful, from such a entertaining author for so many years. But other authors are doing the same thing, it seems.
even the editing was messy, i thought this was written by a few teenagers and dana stabenow, put her name on it, why i don't know, i don't know how this book could have been published in the 1st place, no stars at all, what is less than stars, half moons?? it did put me to sleep several times, so awful, from such a entertaining author for so many years. But other authors are doing the same thing, it seems.
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