Death Trap

Jessie Arnold & Alex Jensen #10

by Sue Henry

No author on the crime fiction scene brings the beauty, mystery, majesty, and danger of the Alaskan frontier more vibrantly alive than critically acclaimed award winner Sue Henry. Now she takes us due north once more to this rugged land that famed "musher" and sometime sleuth Jessie Arnold calls home -- a breathtaking world where the summers are brief and winters, like death, are cold and long.

With August drawing to a close, Jessie Arnold is feeling empty. Not even the return of a friend can lessen her disappointment over having to miss the approaching Alaskan dogsled racing season because of her recent knee surgery. But a request to help man the Iditarod booth at the Alaska State Fair is a godsend, something that keeps Jessie involved and happy . . . until a corpse turns up on the fairgrounds.

The murder is an especially brutal one: a small-time hoodlum dispatched by a double-blade axe blow to the skull. Though she has already seen too much death in her lifetime, Jessie becomes a participant in the proceedings when her beloved lead sled dog, Tank, vanishes. Angry and sick with worry, she sets out to find him and unwittingly discovers connections that link Tank's disappearance to the murder and a recent theft in bizarre and disturbing ways.

Friends new and old are soon involved as well. Musher Lynn Ehlers, the parents of a local boy, and state troopers are plunged into a desperate and harrowing search that leads them across lush forested valleys, up silent, forbidding mountains, and into Alaska's darkest heart. Because, suddenly, a sled dog is not the only missing player in this drama. Under alarming circumstances, Jessie Arnold has also vanished.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Murder Mystery, Dogs, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, Cozy Mystery

288 pages, Hardcover

First published June 17, 2003

About the author

Sue Henry is the author of 17 novels in two award-winning Alaska mystery series. Her first book, "Murder on the Iditarod Trail" (1991), was well reviewed and won both the Macavity Awards and Anthony Awards for best first novel, prompting the author to develop a series based on this book's characters, Alaskan state trooper Alex Jensen and Jessie Arnold, a sled dog racer.

In 2005, she started a new mystery series featuring a 63-year-old widow, Maxine McNab, travelling in her Winnebago with a miniature dachshund, Stretch. Maxine had appeared in Dead North (2001) in the first series.

Murder on the Iditarod Trail was filmed for television as The Cold Heart of a Killer (1996) starring Kate Jackson, who bought the rights to the book. Sue Henry lived in Alaska for more than a quarter of a century, and brought history, Alaskan lore, and the majestic beauty of the vast landscape to her mysteries. She also taught writing at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.

Reviews

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who kidnapped Jessie Arnold’s prize winning lead Iditarod dog, Tank? And who kidnapped Jessie Arnold a few days later? Alex Jenson, Jessie Arnold’s former lover, returned to town during the time officers were trying to solve the case and good thing he did because he was the only one who could recognize the clues that Jessie left.

Lee Adams did a good job in storytelling.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this entry in the series. There was a surprise addition to the cast of characters that I loved. The style of telling the story was different, sort of flashbacky and multiple points of view and I liked it.

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

SUMMARY: Recovering from knee surgery that will cause her to miss the upcoming dogsled racing season, champion "musher" Jessie Arnold feels empty and bored -- so she grabs an opportunity to fill her days manning the Iditarod booth at the Alaska State Fair. But murder becomes an attraction here as well -- an especially brutal one -- when the corpse of a small-time hoodlum slain by a double-blade axe blow to the skull turns up on the fairgrounds. Jessie shouldn't get involved, having already seen too much violent death in her lifetime. But strange connections are linking the killing with a child's kidnapping . . . and with the sudden disappearance of her own beloved lead sled dog. Soon friends old and new will be pulled in as well when the unthinkable occurs: Jessie herself vanishes without a trace.

REVIEW: The format in which this mystery is written is quite unique. All of the people who played roles in the mystery are gathered at the main characters home. They are recalling the mystery as it happened by their various roles along the timeline of the mystery as it took place. This is very different from the other book I read in this series Murder on the Iditarod Trail. I still found it a very enjoyable mystery although I did figure out the villain about 2/3 of the way through the book. Overall a good mystery series.

[Donna Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't read this. I can't even give it the requisite five chapters or 50 pp. we usually advise others to go before abandoning a book.

Maybe I should have known this would not hold my interest, since I don't care much about Alaska or the Iditarod. However, I did read one Iditarod mystery by this writer, and the plot was well enough executed that I was able to blast past the minutiae in search of a solution. And if this story had started with a body or a threat, rather than a laid-up musher roaming around with her dogs looking at the flora and fauna and musing, I could have been caught up in it. As it was, my mind kept wandering. I started the book two different nights weeks apart; sometimes that works. It didn't here.

Glad I got an inexpensive used copy. With regard to Sue Henry, I will only read the Maxie and Stretch series from now on.

[Jodie Dagesse · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't like giving this a one star but I believe it was written for more of a novice or juvenile reader. There was not much in character development or character background. I think the book's content leans on prior books that gleen knowledge of the characters' relationships that I wouldn't know unless I had read the author's prior books, although the cover doesn't indicate it to be a series.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book. Good insight in the Alaskan fair, families and relationships and fall in Alaska.
Sue Henry does a good job w/character development and setting up of the story to grab the readers interest quickly and throughout the book.

[Amanda]

I loved this book so, so, so much and now this author is my favorite I found it very exciting and it had a lot of twists to the story that I didn't expect. Just overall I would a thousand percent recommend this book. It is awesome.

[Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Immature writing style. Don’t understand all the good reviews on this

[Julie Trapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 First book I have read of this series. Picked it up at a used book sale. Jessie Arnold is not in training for this year's dog sled racing season. She is recuperating from a knee injury. She is helping out at the state fair in the Iditarod booth. Her favorite/beloved dog Tank goes missing from the booth, a man is found dead in the pond on the fair grounds, and there is a missing senior citizen and a 10 yr 0ld boy. All of these are eventually related. Apparently, Jessie is one of those heroines who gets mixed up with the bad guys and needs rescuing. The story is told in a series of flashbacks by the main individuals. This was not my favorite way of telling the story, tho I did enjoy the book. Will go back and read previous books in the series.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really should write a full review for this one, but since I won’t be posting reviews for every book in this series on booksta for it, I’m not going to.

Quick & simple: I love Jessie & Alex, and this whole series, and I do enjoy this one! I really loved the back and forth in this one in showing “present day” & them re-telling everyone what happened with added/extra commentary AND we see what happened as it plays out! Loved the side characters in this one!

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Murder on the Iditarod Trail by Sue Henry and decided to enjoy another Alaska Mystery. I did not read the books in between #1 and #10. Anyone who has grown to love Sue Henry's characters will also love this installment in the series. I found it slow going at the beginning, yet with delightful characters. I read it straight through to the end. A cozy mystery.

[Sarah Ehinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice easy read. This book was formatted in a way that telegraphed all characters name it safely out of the fray. Also a character made a return in this book after an absence, so I'm glad to see that story line get picked back up.

[Christopher Ramsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absorbing tale about Jessie Arnold and her lead dog Tank. While volunteering at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, Alaska Jessie and Tank disappear. Only to be found after many people spent considerable time searching for them.

[Vicki Bishop · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hi read Dead North and loved it. It couldn't wait to read another of her books but just couldn't get into this one. Didn't come c!lose to finishing. I did not like the format.

[Tomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another keep you guessing mystery. I just didn't like the flashback story telling style of this book. All the extra conversations were unnecessary.

[Michelle R. Calvert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best one yet

I loved the way the story was told and tied into a neat bow. Time for Jessie to tags a break.

[Celeste Arms]

don't really like books that go pass to present then back again.almost every chapter

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 - Very, Very Good

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfect cosy murder mystery where the story is being told after the fact (so you know a lot of things) but still manages to be compelling.

[Stella Maynard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodreads Description- No author on the crime fiction scene brings the beauty, mystery, majesty, and danger of the Alaskan frontier more vibrantly alive than critically acclaimed award winner Sue Henry. Now she takes us due north once more to this rugged land that famed "musher" and sometime sleuth Jessie Arnold calls home -- a breathtaking world where the summers are brief and winters, like death, are cold and long.

With August drawing to a close, Jessie Arnold is feeling empty. Not even the return of a friend can lessen her disappointment over having to miss the approaching Alaskan dogsled racing season because of her recent knee surgery. But a request to help man the Iditarod booth at the Alaska State Fair is a godsend, something that keeps Jessie involved and happy . . . until a corpse turns up on the fairgrounds.

The murder is an especially brutal one: a small-time hoodlum dispatched by a double-blade axe blow to the skull. Though she has already seen too much death in her lifetime, Jessie becomes a participant in the proceedings when her beloved lead sled dog, Tank, vanishes. Angry and sick with worry, she sets out to find him and unwittingly discovers connections that link Tank's disappearance to the murder and a recent theft in bizarre and disturbing ways.

Friends new and old are soon involved as well. Musher Lynn Ehlers, the parents of a local boy, and state troopers are plunged into a desperate and harrowing search that leads them across lush forested valleys, up silent, forbidding mountains, and into Alaska's darkest heart. Because, suddenly, a sled dog is not the only missing player in this drama. Under alarming circumstances, Jessie Arnold has also vanished.

This is the first time that I have read Sue Henry. I had to read a "sports mystery" to read as part of a reading challenge. I wasn't sure what to expect because by the description it seemed like it would be mystery "light". I was right but I also found myself enjoying the book. The book is part of a series surrounding the main character, Jessie Arnold and I did not feel like I was missing out on anything important that may have been presented in earlier books. As the description says, Jessie is a professional musher who is not able to take part in the annual Iditarod race due to a recent knee injury so she decides to help out at the Alaska State Fair in the Iditarod booth. From there the story takes off with a senior citizen who has snuck off from his Senior Center pairing up with a young boy who accidentally has taken a camera bag belonging to someone who may be a suspect in a murder of a man on the fairgrounds. As they are being chased by the suspect, Jessie's dog is taken and Jessie, while looking for Tank, goes missing as well. State troopers Phil Becker and Alex Jensen, Jessie's former love interest, are on the case of this convuluted mystery.

The story is written in an interesting way. The actual plot is revealed in the storytelling of the participating characters as there are sitting in Jessies house, in the present, recapping the events that have happened in the past few days. The reader follows the mystery as the characters are filling each other in on details that not everyone may know. It was nice hearing the characters thoughts after the mystery was solved. It gave the story closure that I really value in a novel.

The criticism that I have of the book is the way the State Troopers investigated. They were far to involved personally. I know the personalization gave the story more emotion but it also hindered how police actually would investigate this kind of crime. The publication date is 2003, which in my mind, isn't that far from 2012. I kept wanting to yell at them to check phone records and quit putting things off until later. That was frustrating to me. The actual police procedural was nothing like it should have been for the year 2003 and the story did not take place in the past. It was written as if in the present time of 2003. They ignored how to look into cell phone records, GPS, and actual crime scene investigation. Evidence was often tainted or written off as "that couldn't possibly have anything to do with the crime". It often had me yelling in my head at the officers to quite being so stupid. It also became pretty clear who the culprit was very early on in the story, which was disappointing.

So there are some good and bad things about this book, but nothing that stands out for me to say that I didn't like the book. So I give it 3 stars, I liked it. But I wouldn't tell anyone to go out and buy the book. Find it at a library because I definitely wouldn't want to spend money on it.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sue Henry
[Alex Jensen & Jessie Arnold]
Death Trap [x]
Date Start: 12/09/18
Date Ended: 12/10/18
Review: 5☆'s
Death Trap is a totally different approach to this murder mystery. The storyline is a retelling of the incidents that happened with Jessie & Tank at a party in Jessie's new house. And as usual trouble always finds Jessie. Death Trap is written by second, third & fourth person's retelling of the story rather than a singular person. It's a novel idea that worked. Kudos to you. I'm giving the book 5☆'s.

[Dlora · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mild-manner murder mystery with an interesting setting in Alaska but not enough flavor of the country, mostly flat characters but likeable, and not very gripping. Not a bad story but it didn't keep me coming back to continue reading. First a 10-year-old boy skips out on his chores to go to the Alaskan State fair, then a feisty older man gets fed up with the gestapo-like rules of his nursing home and also goes to the fair. Next a petty thief ends up dead in th e lumberjack pond, a prize dogsled huskie is stolen, and finally Jessie, who owns him, also ends up missing. The police are so overworked that clues go missing and Jessie's old flame shows up to help save the day. The structure of the books was sort of interesting, The author has all the main characters gather together to pool what happened according to their perspective, so the narration jumps from present to past telling the story.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Death Trap, Sue Henry introduces a sometimes delightful supporting cast, including an imaginative boy with kind, tolerant parents and an adventurous octogenarian. The “trap” that forms the basis of the book’s climax is a clever invention of the author, but it’s hard to see what motivates her antagonist to go to all that trouble. Nevertheless, this is a series to read for fun, not for verisimilitude—although I have to say, after reading several of Sue Henry’s books, that if I ever get to the interior of Alaska, I expect to find the culture at least somewhat familiar.

[Leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 10th book I've read in this Alaska mystery series. I finally realized that the heroine, Jessie Arnold, reminds me of my niece and I am completely endeared to her and now Jessie Arnold. I wish the series could go on and on but I think there is only one book left. I hope Sue Henry is busy at her computer though I have realized that the time at the computer only represents a fraction of the time spent in creating these books. Reading each one is like a seaparate trip to Alaska.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

First a little boy is missing, then a senior citizen is gone from assisted living and then Tank the lead dog for Jessie's Iditerod team and then Jessie herself disappears. Fun times at the Alaska State Fair. There is also a couple of murders too. Lots of stuff going on at the fair! This was told in an interesting style when all the characters get together at Jessie's cabin to discuss what happened.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just wasn't for me.
I have not read any other books in this series and I am coming into a series in the middle so I might think differently if I started with the first book but...
I didn't connect with any of the characters, I didn't think the murder/mystery was all that compelling. I really didn't like the way she told the story where everyone is sitting around talking about everything that happened in the past tense - it just took some of the mystery out of the book.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not read Sue Henry in quite a while. I really enjoyed this book. It was written after the fact. A group of people were in Jessie Arnold's living room; they were discussing recent events. Each person knew a different part of the story and told their parts chronologically. It was a delightful way to tell a story. It unfolded perfectly.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book. Sled dog gets kidnapped, then our heroine. Story's all about finding her. Jessie's former love interest assembles all the clues necessary to locate her and Tank using an assortment of Alaskans. The story is revealed in an interesting way; all revealed in flashback. Ok. where's the next book?

[Grillables · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the character who constantly (and unnecessarily) uses "big words" a bit forced, but otherwise it was good for a quick not-too-suspenseful read. I'll read some more books by this author and see how it goes.