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Kate Shugak #13
A Grave Denied
Everyone knew Len Dreyer, a handyman for hire in the Park near Niniltna, Alaska, but no one knew anything else about him. Even Kate Shugak hired him to thin the trees on her 160-acre homestead and was planning to ask him to help build a small second cabin on her property for Johnny Morgan, a teenaged boy in her care. But she, the Park's unofficial p.i., seems to have known less about him than anyone.
Alaska is a place where anybody can bury his history and start fresh, and for any reason, but this particular mystery comes to light when Len Dreyer turns up murdered. His body is discovered, frozen solid, in the path of a receding glacier with the hole from a shotgun blast in his chest. No one even knew he was missing, but it turns out he's been missing for months.
Alaska State Trooper Jim Chopin asks Kate to help him dig into Dreyer's background, in the hope of finding some reason for his murder. She takes the case, mindful of the need for gainful employment as she copes with her responsibility for Johnny, a constant reminder of his father, her dead lover. Little does she imagine that by trying to provide for him she just might put him right in the path of danger.
Alaska is a place where anybody can bury his history and start fresh, and for any reason, but this particular mystery comes to light when Len Dreyer turns up murdered. His body is discovered, frozen solid, in the path of a receding glacier with the hole from a shotgun blast in his chest. No one even knew he was missing, but it turns out he's been missing for months.
Alaska State Trooper Jim Chopin asks Kate to help him dig into Dreyer's background, in the hope of finding some reason for his murder. She takes the case, mindful of the need for gainful employment as she copes with her responsibility for Johnny, a constant reminder of his father, her dead lover. Little does she imagine that by trying to provide for him she just might put him right in the path of danger.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
163 people are currently reading
1007 people want to read
About the author
Dana Stabenow
104 books2,149 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 210 reviews
September 11, 2019
Murder, nut jobs, evil men, first kisses and crispy homes in the Alaskan wild. Poor Kate, she has had a black cloud over her for the last several books and this one dumps some more on her. Johnny's mother must be dealt with, Ugg the witch ! Kate handles her like a boss, Woot Woot ! She nearly loses everything, even her much loved Mutt. A man the Park trusted has shown up dead, it a strange place with no obvious clues. Jim asks for her help, and while she's digging she finds out that they didn't know who this man was at all. And then there is another murder, and an attempt or two to kill Kate. Caring about Kate can drive you nuts ! Chopper Jim will agree with me on this I'm sure, because he goes a little nuts himself. Chopper Jim has bitten off more than he can chew. LOL At the end of the book I could see Kate's wicked grin at the end. The game has begun. :D
This was a fun, exhilarating ride with my Alaskan girl. I've already ordered the next book.
This was a fun, exhilarating ride with my Alaskan girl. I've already ordered the next book.
December 29, 2015
This is one of the best Kate Shugak books I had have read. On a visit to Grant's Glacier a high school class finds the body in the edge of the glacier. He was the handyman of the park Len Dreyer. He always worked for cash and there is no record in his name. Chopper Jim hires Kate to asked to explore his background. Johnny is now living with Kate. Johnny is determined he will not go back to his Mother and runs away. When Kate returns from finding her house is on fire. Bobby's bigot brother is visiting him. When Kate finds the answer it stuns everyone. These subplots are skillfully gathered together for an outstanding story.
November 26, 2024
I've read quite a few Nevada Barr novels (Ranger Anna Pigeon) and a few J. A. Jance novels, but A Grave Denied is my first Dana Stabenow. It's number 13 in her Kate Shugak series. Kate is a P.I. in Denali National Park in Alaska, not far from the fictional town of Niniltna. She has Aleutian ancestors living nearby. In this installment, she is caring for Johnny Morgan, the 14 year-old son of her murdered lover, who wants no part of living with his bitchy mother in Anchorage. His mother keeps making threats to use the law to force him back home.
On a field trip to a glacier, students make a grisly discovery. There is a well-preserved dead body tucked in an ice cave at the foot of the glacier. Once Kate and law enforcement are on the case, someone burns down Kate's cabin. She and Johnny and the dog Mutt are unharmed. The body is quickly identified as Len Dreyer, a handyman that nearly everyone in the area seems to have used and been pleased with. In looking for Dreyer's particulars, and searching for a motive, Kate finds that there is no one by that name registered anywhere - county, state, driver's license and vehicle registration bureaus, social security, Alaskan Oil Pipeline Fund - nothing. So he was living under an assumed name. Why ?
A Grave Denied is written in third person, with journal entries of Johnny. Stabenow is a very talented writer, and the story kept me interested. Her characters were well-drawn. The plot is fast-paced and realistic. (One scene was medically untenable. And what's this about not referring to Denali National Park even once by its real name ? Stabenow calls it "the Park". Yes, I know that's what locals call it, but it should be identified once before abbreviating it. Inane.) In comparison to Nevada Barr, there are plenty of similarities, but Stabenow writes more sex and sex talk. After a sample of one, I rank Stabenow above Jance, and Jance above Barr. Of course in my book, Tana French is not surpassed among women crime writers.
On a field trip to a glacier, students make a grisly discovery. There is a well-preserved dead body tucked in an ice cave at the foot of the glacier. Once Kate and law enforcement are on the case, someone burns down Kate's cabin. She and Johnny and the dog Mutt are unharmed. The body is quickly identified as Len Dreyer, a handyman that nearly everyone in the area seems to have used and been pleased with. In looking for Dreyer's particulars, and searching for a motive, Kate finds that there is no one by that name registered anywhere - county, state, driver's license and vehicle registration bureaus, social security, Alaskan Oil Pipeline Fund - nothing. So he was living under an assumed name. Why ?
A Grave Denied is written in third person, with journal entries of Johnny. Stabenow is a very talented writer, and the story kept me interested. Her characters were well-drawn. The plot is fast-paced and realistic. (One scene was medically untenable. And what's this about not referring to Denali National Park even once by its real name ? Stabenow calls it "the Park". Yes, I know that's what locals call it, but it should be identified once before abbreviating it. Inane.) In comparison to Nevada Barr, there are plenty of similarities, but Stabenow writes more sex and sex talk. After a sample of one, I rank Stabenow above Jance, and Jance above Barr. Of course in my book, Tana French is not surpassed among women crime writers.
May 15, 2021
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Marguerite Gavin is the narrator for the audiobook version of this novel.
Marguerite Gavin is the narrator for the audiobook version of this novel.
June 22, 2019
Another excellent mystery series. Kate Shugak works in a park in Alaska. Former social worker, now helps in investigations. She's not a hero and not always lovable. That makes the series interesting.
A local handyman, excellent at almost everything, is found dead in a glacier. Who killed him and why?
Then Kate's cabin is burned down--it's the cabin her father built, her parents lived in and she was born in. She's taking care of a former (and dead) lover's teenage boy, and is struggling to figure out parenthood.
Who killed the handyman? Kate discovers several leads, and narrows them down. But the ending is too good to give away. Worth the surprise.
The book, with Alaska as a backdrop, is rich in detail about life in Alaska and the life of the people who choose to live far away from others. Kate's tribal associations are both welcomed and bothersome. Just like real life.
A local handyman, excellent at almost everything, is found dead in a glacier. Who killed him and why?
Then Kate's cabin is burned down--it's the cabin her father built, her parents lived in and she was born in. She's taking care of a former (and dead) lover's teenage boy, and is struggling to figure out parenthood.
Who killed the handyman? Kate discovers several leads, and narrows them down. But the ending is too good to give away. Worth the surprise.
The book, with Alaska as a backdrop, is rich in detail about life in Alaska and the life of the people who choose to live far away from others. Kate's tribal associations are both welcomed and bothersome. Just like real life.
February 29, 2024
All of the books in this series are good, but this one was especially great. Especially if you’ve been following Kate Shugak since her first adventure. I can’t recommend this series more highly.
February 7, 2023
I'm a big fan of this series, set in Alaska. I used to live there back in the 70's when the pipeline was being put in and witnessed lots of the wild times and crazy things that Dana Stabenow writes about.
In a previous book, Kate promised her dying lover that she would care for and protect his 14 year old son, Johnny. Johnny's mother has lots a problems and wants to take him back to the lower 48 with her. Johnny is determined to stay with Kate and help her with her 160 acre homestead.
When the story opens Johnny and his class are having a field trip to Grant's Glacier where a piece of the ice sheet calves and they discover a corpse frozen at the edge of a glacier. It turns out to be the body of a local handyman Len Dreyer. Everyone is familiar with Dreyer, but no one seems to know much about him at all. No one has reported him missing and no one in the Park or in the nearby village of Niniltna even realized Dreyer was missing.
The Park is Denali National Park where Investigator Kate Shugak and other natives live. One of the most interesting parts of this series are the multiple secondary characters, including Mutt, Kate's half wolf dog. The characters evolve, change and grow so that they remain unpredictable. Several things happen in this story that push the characterization further and make you want to continue the series. Johnny, who is afraid his mother will find him, has moved himself to a cave to live. While Kate is searching for him someone sets fire to her house. Kate is devastated and this is where we find out more about her backstory. Johnny is also keeping a journal which adds a touch of personal realism to the story.
One of the themes of this book seems to be that people often have secrets and hidden pasts. There are several suspects who might have killed Dreyer, who had a secret that gave many people a motive to kill him. The identity of the killer wasn't obvious and the reason for the killing was a real surprise.
A Grave Denied is great crime fiction with plenty of twists and turns set in a fascinating location. The series is best read in order, in my opinion, and this one definitely provides spoilers to events in previous books.
In a previous book, Kate promised her dying lover that she would care for and protect his 14 year old son, Johnny. Johnny's mother has lots a problems and wants to take him back to the lower 48 with her. Johnny is determined to stay with Kate and help her with her 160 acre homestead.
When the story opens Johnny and his class are having a field trip to Grant's Glacier where a piece of the ice sheet calves and they discover a corpse frozen at the edge of a glacier. It turns out to be the body of a local handyman Len Dreyer. Everyone is familiar with Dreyer, but no one seems to know much about him at all. No one has reported him missing and no one in the Park or in the nearby village of Niniltna even realized Dreyer was missing.
The Park is Denali National Park where Investigator Kate Shugak and other natives live. One of the most interesting parts of this series are the multiple secondary characters, including Mutt, Kate's half wolf dog. The characters evolve, change and grow so that they remain unpredictable. Several things happen in this story that push the characterization further and make you want to continue the series. Johnny, who is afraid his mother will find him, has moved himself to a cave to live. While Kate is searching for him someone sets fire to her house. Kate is devastated and this is where we find out more about her backstory. Johnny is also keeping a journal which adds a touch of personal realism to the story.
One of the themes of this book seems to be that people often have secrets and hidden pasts. There are several suspects who might have killed Dreyer, who had a secret that gave many people a motive to kill him. The identity of the killer wasn't obvious and the reason for the killing was a real surprise.
A Grave Denied is great crime fiction with plenty of twists and turns set in a fascinating location. The series is best read in order, in my opinion, and this one definitely provides spoilers to events in previous books.
September 6, 2020
A Grave Denied"A Grave Denied" is not quite as light-hearted as "Breakup" was (duh! It has the word Grave in the title) but it is more upbeat than any book from "Hunter's Moon" onwards.
Kate is no longer lost. She is coming back to herself and coming home. Of course, this being a Kate Shugak book, that turns out to have a great deal of trauma and risk associated with it.
The story revolves around the discovery that someone has shot dead a local handy man and hidden his body in a glacier. At the overworked Jim Chopin's request, Kate gets involved in the investigation of the murder. This quickly becomes personal and puts her and those around her at risk. The plot is a bit spookier than most Kate Shugak books, more like the things Liam Campbell deals with, it's complicated and unpleasant and has quite a slow reveal.
The murder investigation is an enabler in the novel, not the heart of it. What I particularly liked about this Kate Shugak novel is that it is an ensemble piece, with all the major characters playing a part and almost everyone else getting at least a cameo. Johnny Morgan is growing up and his Journal entry opens the book and other entries give his perspective on what living with Kate it like. Bobby faces his own problems with the family he left behind and broke contact with when he came to Alaska, Dinah shows her metal as a wife and mother and a staunch friend, and Jim Chopin get's more from Kate than he expected from her and is scared silly by it. Kate's life IS the people she loves, as much as it is the place she lives in. This book makes that clear in a very dramatic and emotionally moving way.
There were three things I liked about Kate in this book. The first was her confrontation with Johnny Morgan's mother. Kate is direct, forceful, ruthless and fearless - and not above fighting dirty if that's what it takes. This is the Kate Shugak that has the Park's respect. It was fun to watch. The second was the pleasure Kate takes in her new-found power over Jim Chopin. It was wicked, and funny and I hope to see a lot more of it. The third was Kate's recognition of her own roots in the house her father built. We've heard relatively little about her parents. It was good to see her attached to positive memories.
It was much harder to watch Kate's shock after the ultimate "involuntary Potlatch", it was like watching a great forest burn, it may bring renewal but while its happening it feels like a tragic end, not a new beginning. Watching Kate's friends responded was a welcome relief that lifted my mood.
Despite the threats to Kate and Mutt, despite the unpleasant motivations of the various parties involved in the crime, this feels like a book of healing: taking Kate back to a new beginning from which she can thrive.
Kate is no longer lost. She is coming back to herself and coming home. Of course, this being a Kate Shugak book, that turns out to have a great deal of trauma and risk associated with it.
The story revolves around the discovery that someone has shot dead a local handy man and hidden his body in a glacier. At the overworked Jim Chopin's request, Kate gets involved in the investigation of the murder. This quickly becomes personal and puts her and those around her at risk. The plot is a bit spookier than most Kate Shugak books, more like the things Liam Campbell deals with, it's complicated and unpleasant and has quite a slow reveal.
The murder investigation is an enabler in the novel, not the heart of it. What I particularly liked about this Kate Shugak novel is that it is an ensemble piece, with all the major characters playing a part and almost everyone else getting at least a cameo. Johnny Morgan is growing up and his Journal entry opens the book and other entries give his perspective on what living with Kate it like. Bobby faces his own problems with the family he left behind and broke contact with when he came to Alaska, Dinah shows her metal as a wife and mother and a staunch friend, and Jim Chopin get's more from Kate than he expected from her and is scared silly by it. Kate's life IS the people she loves, as much as it is the place she lives in. This book makes that clear in a very dramatic and emotionally moving way.
There were three things I liked about Kate in this book. The first was her confrontation with Johnny Morgan's mother. Kate is direct, forceful, ruthless and fearless - and not above fighting dirty if that's what it takes. This is the Kate Shugak that has the Park's respect. It was fun to watch. The second was the pleasure Kate takes in her new-found power over Jim Chopin. It was wicked, and funny and I hope to see a lot more of it. The third was Kate's recognition of her own roots in the house her father built. We've heard relatively little about her parents. It was good to see her attached to positive memories.
It was much harder to watch Kate's shock after the ultimate "involuntary Potlatch", it was like watching a great forest burn, it may bring renewal but while its happening it feels like a tragic end, not a new beginning. Watching Kate's friends responded was a welcome relief that lifted my mood.
Despite the threats to Kate and Mutt, despite the unpleasant motivations of the various parties involved in the crime, this feels like a book of healing: taking Kate back to a new beginning from which she can thrive.
February 7, 2023
A Grave Denied is another great Alaskan mystery from Dana Stabenow. This time kate has to figure out who killed the local handyman and who was he really? This is a really dark story and a lot happens.
March 20, 2024
Yeah and what if I cried twice?
November 6, 2019
From my 2004 booklog:
"A", solid effort, above average. Nice coming-of-age teenager stuff.
"A", solid effort, above average. Nice coming-of-age teenager stuff.
July 3, 2014
Kate Shugak is finally, finally over the loss of Jack Morgan (well sort of) when his son Johnny appears on her doorstep. Jack's dying request was for Kate to take care of Johnny so Kate is determined to do right by Johnny even if it means fighting is PITA mother, Jane for custody. I love how Kate knows her facts and uses them to the best advantage. The scene between Jane, Kate and Johnny was priceless.
Of course there is never just one thing going on in the park and one of them is always a murder. In this case, Johnny literally stumbles over the body of handyman Len Dreyer and Trooper Jim Chopin tags Kate for the investigation. The suspense ratchets up when within days of finding the body, the murderer is after Kate.
I particularly love Kate's reaction to Jim Chopin's advances. Oh Jim's been making passes at Kate for years but finally Jack is out of the picture and loverboy Chopin thinks he might have a chance with Kate. Keep in mind Jack is 6'10" and Kate is 5'. All I can picture during these scenes is little Kate craning her neck up and up just to see his face. lol Kate has a knack for deadpan delivery and boy does she do a number on Jim. This series is very enjoyable but not usually laugh out loud funny but I admit to cuffawing a time or two over Kate and Jim's antics.
Of course there is never just one thing going on in the park and one of them is always a murder. In this case, Johnny literally stumbles over the body of handyman Len Dreyer and Trooper Jim Chopin tags Kate for the investigation. The suspense ratchets up when within days of finding the body, the murderer is after Kate.
I particularly love Kate's reaction to Jim Chopin's advances. Oh Jim's been making passes at Kate for years but finally Jack is out of the picture and loverboy Chopin thinks he might have a chance with Kate. Keep in mind Jack is 6'10" and Kate is 5'. All I can picture during these scenes is little Kate craning her neck up and up just to see his face. lol Kate has a knack for deadpan delivery and boy does she do a number on Jim. This series is very enjoyable but not usually laugh out loud funny but I admit to cuffawing a time or two over Kate and Jim's antics.
June 27, 2010
A Grave Denied is another terrific installment in the Kate Shugak series. Kate's "ward" Johnnie Morgan and his classmates discover the frozen body of a long-time Park resident in a glacial cave. Jim Chopin asks Kate to help with the investigation, much to the jealous dismay of Dandy Mike, who's hoping to become Jim's assistant trooper. As in all the other books, a few more murders/attempted murders occur before Kate gets it all sorted out. What made this book standout for me was the inclusion of Johnny's journals. I really liked his point of view about the events, and about Kate. Perhaps too, there's some foreshadowing for future novels as it's clear he has a major crush on Kate. I also like the way Kate was honored by her community, and especially her reaction to their love!
October 7, 2014
I haven't really liked this series since the author killed off Jack. Everything is so much more sexual. It feels like a romance series with a mystery instead of a genuine mystery. It's just sad. The first half of the series was great. Unfortunately, the author fell prey to the trap of trying to stay mainstream, instead of what brought readers to her series in the first place. I'm done. The last two, were on the edge for me. I read this one and the next one and I'm just done. Disappointed. I really liked Stabenow's writing until it felt like everything shifted to a Harlequin suspense series.
September 17, 2011
For my first attempt in adult crime novels, this wasn't a bad start. Stabenow's descriptions of Alaska and the types of people who choose to live in the Alaskan wilderness was my favorite part. Also: Kate Shugak is kind of badass.
Despite this, I found this novel to be fairly underwhelming. The "mystery" seemed to happen to Kate--the reader was largely left out of the investigation and fact-finding and instead I was presented with information Kate already had. In a nutshell, I was expecting something more suspenseful and engaging, but didn't get it.
Despite this, I found this novel to be fairly underwhelming. The "mystery" seemed to happen to Kate--the reader was largely left out of the investigation and fact-finding and instead I was presented with information Kate already had. In a nutshell, I was expecting something more suspenseful and engaging, but didn't get it.
June 9, 2017
Another true to form Kate Shugak mystery, including near death for Kate, perhaps new romance, lots of local color, great character development, as well as picturesque word paintings of the setting. I read later books in the series before this one and wondered about what had happened in the past. This book filled in a big gap in the chronology of Kate Shugak's life. This was a fun and engaging read, although not always fun for Kate.
July 15, 2014
The Kate Shugak series massively appealed to me. She is a moral, if not slightly damaged (aren't we all?!) Native Alaskan woman who solves mysteries around Alaska and has a wolf-dog roommate. I started reading them in Unalaska and continued in Dillingham and still think that anybody who wants to visit Alaska but can't afford the air-fare could get a pretty good tour, not to mention enjoying some well-crafted mystery, by reading these books.
September 10, 2016
Another fine story in the Kate Shugak series. A body is found floating in glacial meltwater and a few more occur before Kate figures it out. The book has all the familiar characters, plus a few more. Chopper Jim's emotional outburst broke the cast I had in mind for him: intractable, inscrutable, solid cop...not so much. If I could choose a theme, it would be: "Alaskan winters can drive you nuts"...another fine portayal of Alaska's culture that us Outsiders just don't get.
December 25, 2025
As usual, there is a pivot that Kate's where law enforcement background comes to the fore. In this book, she has more personal struggles about how to get Johnny Morgan into her life legally, whether to have Jim Chopin in her personal life, and how to be okay with being fully appreciated for doing all these investigations well while being a park rat. The personal struggles were more engaging than the mystery for me.
June 11, 2017
This is my favorite Kate Shugak story. In several of the previous books (e.g. The Singing of the Dead etc) the author seems to be trying to rely less on Kate as her main character. This is a mistake, as what makes this series different from many others, is Kate!
In this book the different elements of the story revolve around Kate and as a result the book is far more interesting.
In this book the different elements of the story revolve around Kate and as a result the book is far more interesting.
July 28, 2024
Overall this is another good read in the Kate Shugak series. For me, however, it is flawed at the point where the bad guy is revealed. The action at that point pushed my WSOD a bit too far.
3+ stars rounded up.
3+ stars rounded up.
July 10, 2015
I love this series! When the local handyman is killed, Kate Shugak is hired to investigate the murder. In this close Park community, she quickly learns that no one really knew the man that worked in their midst. I could not put this one down as A Grave Denied
May 7, 2016
I'm enjoying these enough to keep reading them, but the romance is getting a little on the dubious-consent side and there's a bit too much rescuing the previously self-sufficient heroine in the last couple for my personal liking.
March 5, 2012
Too much Kate And her potential romance with Jim Chopin and too little mystery solving. I found other Kate Shugak stories much more satisfying than this one.
May 7, 2022
It's a toss-up whether I like this book or "Breakup" better in the series so far. It has been a pleasure to revisit the recurring characters again - they are believable along with the strong heroine, Kate Shugak. I like how they evolve, change and grow. The story is well written with a good plot and pacing and also contains an intriguing mystery. Kate is making significant healing progress in the emotional and grief-stricken state she's been in since Jack Morgan's murder. Jack made her promise, when he was dying, to look after his 14-year-old son Johnny and protect him from his mother. She needs to be well emotionally to be able to do that effectively.
Ms. Doogans's 7th and 8th grade classes at Niniltna Public School are taking a field trip to Grant Glacier. During a break four students including Johnny are out exploring when they come across a frozen body sitting in the mouth of the glacier with a large hole in his chest. He turns out to be the local park handyman whose name is Len Dreyer. Most everyone in the park knew him and used his services at one time or another - but did they really know him? Kate was planning to ask him to help build a small second cabin on her property for Johnny to live in. Sergeant Jim Chopin of the Alaska State Troopers has just moved his base of operations to Niniltna and is happy to be nearer Kate. Since his workload is heavy, he asks Kate to do some investigating for him and find out what she can about Dreyer. Jim will be flying around on other assignments. Kate finds out that Dreyer had left no paper trails, always worked for cash, and the biggie is that he never applied for the annual permanent fund dividend interest earned from oil pumped from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. This probably means that his name wasn't Leonard Dreyer! He was a.k.a. Leon Duffy
Johnny, who has been staying with Kate and afraid his mother will find him and drag him away, has moved himself to a cave to live. While Kate is searching for him so she can bring him back home, someone sets fire to her house. Kate is devastated because her father built it, and it holds special memories for her. She only had time to rescue a few precious things. Chopper Jim fires her from the investigation for her own protection; because if Kate hadn't been looking for Johnny, they both would probably be dead! But Kate takes all this personally and puts herself back on the case. She turns up several suspects and puts her life in danger again.
Several subplots include:
- Bobby Clark's brother is coming to the park to confront him about returning home to Tennessee to see his dying father one last time. Bobby is adamant he won't go as they have been estranged for a long while. Bobby's wife Dinah really shines in this book as a wife, mother, friend, and mover and shaker as she mobilizes the park rats to do something really heartwarming for Kate.
- Dandy Mike is a law enforcement wannabe and womanizer. He thinks a badge and uniform will be a babe magnet. He does a little investigating on Dreyer among his past conquests to show Jim what he can do. Jim thanks him but warns him not to do anymore investigating. Dandy Mike miscalculates the danger he could be in with devastating consequences.
- Chopper Jim and Kate's relationship is heating up, but Jim is so wary of Kate's change in attitude toward him that he keeps backing off. Kate is amused at the newfound power she now has over Jim.
- Ms. Doogan wants her students to keep a journal for the summer for freshman English next fall. Throughout the book are sprinkled journal entries that give the reader insights into Johnny's thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
- Johnny really likes Vanessa Cox from his class at school. She has been living with Virgil and Telma Hagberg since her parents were killed. They have a deep dark secret. Could Vanessa be in danger?
- There is a plethora of suspects who might have killed Dreyer. It turns out Dryer/Duffy had a secret which gave many people a motive to kill him. Kate and Mutt are in grave danger when they accidently encounter the real murderer.
My favorite character is Mutt who is half wolf and half malamute. She is Kate's constant companion and provides comic relief and heartwarming moments. Another favorite character is Alaska itself. Stabenow has a great ability for description and brings character and composition to the scenery, landscape and people. It sometimes reads as a travelogue. A highly recommended series.
Ms. Doogans's 7th and 8th grade classes at Niniltna Public School are taking a field trip to Grant Glacier. During a break four students including Johnny are out exploring when they come across a frozen body sitting in the mouth of the glacier with a large hole in his chest. He turns out to be the local park handyman whose name is Len Dreyer. Most everyone in the park knew him and used his services at one time or another - but did they really know him? Kate was planning to ask him to help build a small second cabin on her property for Johnny to live in. Sergeant Jim Chopin of the Alaska State Troopers has just moved his base of operations to Niniltna and is happy to be nearer Kate. Since his workload is heavy, he asks Kate to do some investigating for him and find out what she can about Dreyer. Jim will be flying around on other assignments. Kate finds out that Dreyer had left no paper trails, always worked for cash, and the biggie is that he never applied for the annual permanent fund dividend interest earned from oil pumped from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. This probably means that his name wasn't Leonard Dreyer! He was a.k.a. Leon Duffy
Johnny, who has been staying with Kate and afraid his mother will find him and drag him away, has moved himself to a cave to live. While Kate is searching for him so she can bring him back home, someone sets fire to her house. Kate is devastated because her father built it, and it holds special memories for her. She only had time to rescue a few precious things. Chopper Jim fires her from the investigation for her own protection; because if Kate hadn't been looking for Johnny, they both would probably be dead! But Kate takes all this personally and puts herself back on the case. She turns up several suspects and puts her life in danger again.
Several subplots include:
- Bobby Clark's brother is coming to the park to confront him about returning home to Tennessee to see his dying father one last time. Bobby is adamant he won't go as they have been estranged for a long while. Bobby's wife Dinah really shines in this book as a wife, mother, friend, and mover and shaker as she mobilizes the park rats to do something really heartwarming for Kate.
- Dandy Mike is a law enforcement wannabe and womanizer. He thinks a badge and uniform will be a babe magnet. He does a little investigating on Dreyer among his past conquests to show Jim what he can do. Jim thanks him but warns him not to do anymore investigating. Dandy Mike miscalculates the danger he could be in with devastating consequences.
- Chopper Jim and Kate's relationship is heating up, but Jim is so wary of Kate's change in attitude toward him that he keeps backing off. Kate is amused at the newfound power she now has over Jim.
- Ms. Doogan wants her students to keep a journal for the summer for freshman English next fall. Throughout the book are sprinkled journal entries that give the reader insights into Johnny's thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
- Johnny really likes Vanessa Cox from his class at school. She has been living with Virgil and Telma Hagberg since her parents were killed. They have a deep dark secret. Could Vanessa be in danger?
- There is a plethora of suspects who might have killed Dreyer. It turns out Dryer/Duffy had a secret which gave many people a motive to kill him. Kate and Mutt are in grave danger when they accidently encounter the real murderer.
My favorite character is Mutt who is half wolf and half malamute. She is Kate's constant companion and provides comic relief and heartwarming moments. Another favorite character is Alaska itself. Stabenow has a great ability for description and brings character and composition to the scenery, landscape and people. It sometimes reads as a travelogue. A highly recommended series.
September 17, 2018
Audiobook
Story: A-, Narration: A
Not a review, just some thoughts for personal reference. Spoilers.
The body of Park handyman Len Dreyer is found inside an glacier ice cave by Johnny and some of his schoolmates when they are on a class trip. Dreyer was shot and left there some months previously, apparently at a point when the glacier was growing, the killer not realizing it would recede again and expose the body. Kate starts looking into the case and realizes that no one seems to know much about Dreyer and he went to great lengths to keep it that way. He lived under the radar with assumed name, was paid only in cash, didn't sign up for the State dividend, etc. In addition, someone burned down his cabin so there were no traces left.
Kate's investigation is helped/hampered by the efforts of Dandy Mike who wants to be hired as Jim's assistant and is jealous of Kate's role. He is able to track down several women who had sexual relations with the reclusive man--one of whom was Bernie's wife who made sure Bernie caught them in the act (payback for all of Bernie's affairs, and one serious one in particular). But Dandy's investigation ends up with him getting killed at the site of Dreyer's cabin when he goes out for another look.
Kate also becomes a target when her house is burned down when she and Johnny would normally have both been inside. Shaken, but undeterred, Kate discovers that Dreyer is a convicted pedophile from the Outside, who apparently did not mend his ways in the Park. She continues to trace his final steps and his possible victims. When she gets too close to the killer, she and Mutt both become victims--hit over the head with a shovel and buried alive. Luckily, Jim arrives in the nick of time to save the day.
The killer's identity wasn't a big surprise--someone only recently mentioned and who's weird as hell. (Lots of the characters are weird, but usually in a quirky way.) He was the relative who took in the orphaned Vanessa who Johnny is so smitten with. At first I assumed the motive would be that Dreyer had molested Van--he tried, but she wasn't having any of it. Turns out Dreyer discovered the dead bodies of numerous babies on the property--babies the nutty killer's nutty wife had killed in infancy--and was blackmailing him. Oddly, I distinctly remembered the dead babies from my past reading of the series, but thought it occurred in a different book--I thought it was associated with Abel and was confused that it wasn't--so I still didn't put the whydunnit together despite guessing the whodunnit part.
Van, left homeless again, goes to live with Billy and Annie Mike.
This book also has the side story of Bobby's priggish, racist brother coming to the Park to try to talk him into returning home to see his dying father. Bobby doesn't want to have anything to do with it, but Dinah and Kate both try to talk him into it for his own sake. (I'm not sure I agree with the logic. Sometimes it's best to just cut malignant people out of your life without a backwards glance.) So, Bobby does go and there's a (small) reconciliation.
There's also a lot about Kate and Jim's relationship. I've noted before that I liked the Kate/Jim stuff more the first time reading the books. They kind of exasperate me this time. Too many games.
I did like the showdown between Kate and Johnny's mom. Kate plays dirty and the mom was thoroughly outclassed and left with her tail between her legs. So, Johnny gets to stay in the Park with Kate.
I also liked the 3-day Potlatch where so many people from the Park and beyond showed up to rebuild Kate's house for free. Her small cabin turned into a house big enough for Kate, Jim, Johnny, and Mutt with lots of extras and amenities. Kate mourns for the cabin her father built, but likes the new house and is touched by the generosity.
Final note: How many times is Kate going to get whacked on the head without suffering permanent brain damage?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2024
It feels like this author has once again hit her stride with this book. I'm glad I stayed with the series if only to experience this. It isn't the kind of writing that will reorganize your thought universe, but it's good stuff, and I loved both the solution of the mystery and the end of the book. Yes, in this case, there is a difference.
The book begins with a group of middle school students on a field trip to a local glacier. The teacher, clearly talented, manages to work Alaskan history into information about the glacier. That made me smile, and it brought back memories of a remarkable history teacher I had as a student at the Utah school for the blind. Her husband worked on the railroad, so she understood railroad history like very few people I've ever known. She could bring that history to life and vivify it in such a way that I forgot I was learning something and focused on being solely entertained. From there, she would inculcate that rail history into the history of our community. Her approach was seamless and nothing less than genius class. The opening chapter of this absolutely reminded me of her. As the young people are more or less engaged in the discussion, a couple of them wander off. One of them is Johnny Morgan. Johnny now lives with Kate since his dad died horrifically in a previous book. She pledged to take care of him, and she's doing her best to keep that promise. The whole group of students follows johnny as they get closer to the glacier. Johnny is horrified when he looks at the opening and finds a dead body. It turns out the dead guy is Len Dreyer. He has been the local handyman in the park where Kate is now a private investigator. Nobody missed the poor guy. It's apparently fairly normal for park residents to isolate themselves between September and late March. They figure the guy took a shotgun blast in the chest. He had been dead quite a while by the time those kids found the body. The local state trooper had so much on his plate he really didn't have time for a new investigation. He hired Kate, and she dug in. But when someone burned down her cabin, the state trooper had a whole new set of thinking to do. It was a miracle that Kate and her foster son, Johnny, weren't in the cabin at the time it burned to the ground. Despite the trooper's urging that she get off the case, Kate pushed on and kept finding new clues.
Before the book ends, another young man dies at the hands of a killer. He was hoping to get a job as an investigator with the state police, so he was doing his best to try to find the killer. Yeah, he found the guy alright.
I enjoyed the book immensely. The author stayed away from politics. She seems to have extremely strong feelings in opposition to pedophilia, and I'm perfectly ok with that. If you read this, you'll understand why that previous sentence is there.
This was an engaging late afternoon and early evening read. I may tackle the next book in the series as early as sometime in October. We'll see.
The book begins with a group of middle school students on a field trip to a local glacier. The teacher, clearly talented, manages to work Alaskan history into information about the glacier. That made me smile, and it brought back memories of a remarkable history teacher I had as a student at the Utah school for the blind. Her husband worked on the railroad, so she understood railroad history like very few people I've ever known. She could bring that history to life and vivify it in such a way that I forgot I was learning something and focused on being solely entertained. From there, she would inculcate that rail history into the history of our community. Her approach was seamless and nothing less than genius class. The opening chapter of this absolutely reminded me of her. As the young people are more or less engaged in the discussion, a couple of them wander off. One of them is Johnny Morgan. Johnny now lives with Kate since his dad died horrifically in a previous book. She pledged to take care of him, and she's doing her best to keep that promise. The whole group of students follows johnny as they get closer to the glacier. Johnny is horrified when he looks at the opening and finds a dead body. It turns out the dead guy is Len Dreyer. He has been the local handyman in the park where Kate is now a private investigator. Nobody missed the poor guy. It's apparently fairly normal for park residents to isolate themselves between September and late March. They figure the guy took a shotgun blast in the chest. He had been dead quite a while by the time those kids found the body. The local state trooper had so much on his plate he really didn't have time for a new investigation. He hired Kate, and she dug in. But when someone burned down her cabin, the state trooper had a whole new set of thinking to do. It was a miracle that Kate and her foster son, Johnny, weren't in the cabin at the time it burned to the ground. Despite the trooper's urging that she get off the case, Kate pushed on and kept finding new clues.
Before the book ends, another young man dies at the hands of a killer. He was hoping to get a job as an investigator with the state police, so he was doing his best to try to find the killer. Yeah, he found the guy alright.
I enjoyed the book immensely. The author stayed away from politics. She seems to have extremely strong feelings in opposition to pedophilia, and I'm perfectly ok with that. If you read this, you'll understand why that previous sentence is there.
This was an engaging late afternoon and early evening read. I may tackle the next book in the series as early as sometime in October. We'll see.
May 9, 2022
Handyman Len Draper's body is found with a bullet hole in his chest in the path of a receding glacier. "Privacy in Alaska is somewhere between a vocation and a religion," so it's rough going for Kate Shugak when she tries to help Trooper Jim Chopin find Draper's murderer. Even though he has done work for almost everyone in the Park, no one claims to have known him.
The dogged and dangerous search for that killer who kills again before he's tracked down is the main plot which involves arson, hidden child abuse and mental illness before it's all wrapped up.
But as always with Stabenow's Shugak stories, the devilish fun is in the well-crafted details about life in Alaska and the lives of people who live it. The writing sparkles like sunshine off snow. One witness who is studiously avoiding Kate's pointed questions "examines the contents of his mug of coffee as if he could divine in which valley in Sumatra the beans had been picked."
Bobby's boorish and racist brother from Tennessee arrives to try to get Bobby to come home to see his estranged, dying father. Kate dresses him down nicely, explaining that Bobby is part of the community and belongs there; that Alaska's spaciousness gives freedom and autonomy, but at the same time draws people closer together no matter who they are or where they come from. "The Park has a way of weeding out the unfit."
Jack's son Johnny who lives with Kate is determined not to go back to live with his mother and Kate stages an epic take-down of her manipulative motives. Inclusion of Johnny's journals chronicle his growing love of Park life and he finds a budding love interest, too. Kate has a long conversation with Mutt, her half-wolf/half husky canine companion, in which she reviews her notes and asks his opinion on the case which provides a way to summarize her progress for the reader.
Stabenow stories always have a heavy dose of sexual overtone and that's particularly true of this one whether involving Kate and Jim or Bobby and Dinah. It's personified in Dandy Mike, a collector of women, who logged as many miles in pursuit of women as Len Draper logged in pursuit of jobs. Other covert sexual liaisons are also revealed in the course of the investigation.
Stabenow's taste in fiction is often dropped into her stories and this conversation between Kate and Jim is classic.
Jim: "Remorse is the ultimate in self-abuse."
Kate: Who said that?
Jim: Travis McGee
Kate: He's a better detective than you or I will ever be.
Thanks Dana and Kate for another romp in the Park.
The dogged and dangerous search for that killer who kills again before he's tracked down is the main plot which involves arson, hidden child abuse and mental illness before it's all wrapped up.
But as always with Stabenow's Shugak stories, the devilish fun is in the well-crafted details about life in Alaska and the lives of people who live it. The writing sparkles like sunshine off snow. One witness who is studiously avoiding Kate's pointed questions "examines the contents of his mug of coffee as if he could divine in which valley in Sumatra the beans had been picked."
Bobby's boorish and racist brother from Tennessee arrives to try to get Bobby to come home to see his estranged, dying father. Kate dresses him down nicely, explaining that Bobby is part of the community and belongs there; that Alaska's spaciousness gives freedom and autonomy, but at the same time draws people closer together no matter who they are or where they come from. "The Park has a way of weeding out the unfit."
Jack's son Johnny who lives with Kate is determined not to go back to live with his mother and Kate stages an epic take-down of her manipulative motives. Inclusion of Johnny's journals chronicle his growing love of Park life and he finds a budding love interest, too. Kate has a long conversation with Mutt, her half-wolf/half husky canine companion, in which she reviews her notes and asks his opinion on the case which provides a way to summarize her progress for the reader.
Stabenow stories always have a heavy dose of sexual overtone and that's particularly true of this one whether involving Kate and Jim or Bobby and Dinah. It's personified in Dandy Mike, a collector of women, who logged as many miles in pursuit of women as Len Draper logged in pursuit of jobs. Other covert sexual liaisons are also revealed in the course of the investigation.
Stabenow's taste in fiction is often dropped into her stories and this conversation between Kate and Jim is classic.
Jim: "Remorse is the ultimate in self-abuse."
Kate: Who said that?
Jim: Travis McGee
Kate: He's a better detective than you or I will ever be.
Thanks Dana and Kate for another romp in the Park.
April 25, 2024
SPOILER ALERT
Johnny Morgan, now living with Kate, is on a field trip to the Grant Glacier, when the kids find a body. The glacier, contrary to normal behavior, has been advancing recently. So begins the investigation of Kate Shugak into who killed him. Len Dreyer was a strange but skilled handyman, who had done jobs for nearly everyone in the park. He had also slept with a number of the women, single and married, thereby creating a possible motive. There is no real information available through the various law enforcement institutions. So perhaps her had another name. Indeed, when a former lover reveals a name, Leon Duffy, and the Anchorage DA's office researches, he is revealed to be a pedophile. Kate then suspects that a family that had moved recently and had teenage daughters had had an experience with Dreyer. Gary Drussell refuses to confirm anything, but Kate does find out that he had abused Tracy. But Drussell has an alibi, though it had been difficult to determine when he was killed and put into the glacier.
As Kate continues to pursue the case, she also takes Johnny to see his mother. She confronts Jane Morgan with the illegal activity she had found in the past, Jane realizing who had broken into her home and made her life hell by ordering merchandise and ruining her credit. But after foul language and rage, she agrees to back off, leaving Johnny to live with Kate freely.
Then Kate's cabin, which her father had built, is set on fire. She had been looking for Johnny who was camping with his new friend Vanessa Cox, so she was not hurt. But the cabin is destroyed, and she and Johnny end up living with Bobby and Dinah Clark. Dandy Mike also gets into the game. He wants to wear the uniform to bring in women, has been begging Jim Chopin to take him on as a trainee, and is "helping" to investigate the murder. He is found murdered in the same manner as Dreyer.
As she continues to investigate she goes to the Cox farm to ask a few more questions. She is attacked by Uncle Virgil with a shovel as is Mutt, and he is in the process of burying them alive when Jim Chopin and Johnny show up, to question him, saving their lives. His motive was that Dreyer, when doing some work for them, had discovered that they had had five children that had been accidentally killed by his wife Telma, when she loved them too tightly. She is challenged though Virgil loves her dearly.
The community comes together and plans the rebuilding of Kate's cabin, everyone either contributing materials or help or both. A beautiful cabin in created for Kate and Johnny. We are treated to Johnny's journal entries throughout the story. Bobby is also challenged with the visit of his brother who is pushing for Bobby to visit their father who is dying and wants to see him.
Johnny Morgan, now living with Kate, is on a field trip to the Grant Glacier, when the kids find a body. The glacier, contrary to normal behavior, has been advancing recently. So begins the investigation of Kate Shugak into who killed him. Len Dreyer was a strange but skilled handyman, who had done jobs for nearly everyone in the park. He had also slept with a number of the women, single and married, thereby creating a possible motive. There is no real information available through the various law enforcement institutions. So perhaps her had another name. Indeed, when a former lover reveals a name, Leon Duffy, and the Anchorage DA's office researches, he is revealed to be a pedophile. Kate then suspects that a family that had moved recently and had teenage daughters had had an experience with Dreyer. Gary Drussell refuses to confirm anything, but Kate does find out that he had abused Tracy. But Drussell has an alibi, though it had been difficult to determine when he was killed and put into the glacier.
As Kate continues to pursue the case, she also takes Johnny to see his mother. She confronts Jane Morgan with the illegal activity she had found in the past, Jane realizing who had broken into her home and made her life hell by ordering merchandise and ruining her credit. But after foul language and rage, she agrees to back off, leaving Johnny to live with Kate freely.
Then Kate's cabin, which her father had built, is set on fire. She had been looking for Johnny who was camping with his new friend Vanessa Cox, so she was not hurt. But the cabin is destroyed, and she and Johnny end up living with Bobby and Dinah Clark. Dandy Mike also gets into the game. He wants to wear the uniform to bring in women, has been begging Jim Chopin to take him on as a trainee, and is "helping" to investigate the murder. He is found murdered in the same manner as Dreyer.
As she continues to investigate she goes to the Cox farm to ask a few more questions. She is attacked by Uncle Virgil with a shovel as is Mutt, and he is in the process of burying them alive when Jim Chopin and Johnny show up, to question him, saving their lives. His motive was that Dreyer, when doing some work for them, had discovered that they had had five children that had been accidentally killed by his wife Telma, when she loved them too tightly. She is challenged though Virgil loves her dearly.
The community comes together and plans the rebuilding of Kate's cabin, everyone either contributing materials or help or both. A beautiful cabin in created for Kate and Johnny. We are treated to Johnny's journal entries throughout the story. Bobby is also challenged with the visit of his brother who is pushing for Bobby to visit their father who is dying and wants to see him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2017
Pretty decent mystery tale of murder and intrigue, although there wasn't a particular theme of Alaska running through this one, in comparison to previous books. Perhaps coming this far into a series, there are only so many themes you can do, and now you have to rely more on mysterious plots and the characters and communities you've built up.
In this tale, it's Break Up again (spring time is coming, everything's melting) and a school trip to a glaciar sees a few kids making the gruesome discovery of a body hidden away in a crevice in the glaciar. With the spring melt, this body has now appeared. He's quickly identified, but as he lived alone, no one's reported him missing. In fact no one's seen him for months, so no one is really sure when he would have disappeared. Or why some one would want to kill such a seemingly quiet, inoffensive man. And then burn down his remote cabin. And then when Kate starts asking questions, the same pyromaniac turns his attentions to her cabin.
It was good, although it has followed a plot device used a few times now, of Kate getting close to the killer, being knocked out by said killer, almost destroyed by killer unless it weren't for Chopper Jim running in at the last minute to save her. It would be nice to see her fighting back a bit more again and I hope the next book doesn't follow this line again.
Also on a random note of the editions I'm reading by Head of Zeus, it's really disappointing to see how poor the copyediting is. Not that spelling, grammar etc is my first concern when I'm reading a book I enjoy, but when you keep noticing these things - even the spelling of people's names changes... and given that this is a proper publishing house... ANYWAY, I will survive.
In this tale, it's Break Up again (spring time is coming, everything's melting) and a school trip to a glaciar sees a few kids making the gruesome discovery of a body hidden away in a crevice in the glaciar. With the spring melt, this body has now appeared. He's quickly identified, but as he lived alone, no one's reported him missing. In fact no one's seen him for months, so no one is really sure when he would have disappeared. Or why some one would want to kill such a seemingly quiet, inoffensive man. And then burn down his remote cabin. And then when Kate starts asking questions, the same pyromaniac turns his attentions to her cabin.
It was good, although it has followed a plot device used a few times now, of Kate getting close to the killer, being knocked out by said killer, almost destroyed by killer unless it weren't for Chopper Jim running in at the last minute to save her. It would be nice to see her fighting back a bit more again and I hope the next book doesn't follow this line again.
Also on a random note of the editions I'm reading by Head of Zeus, it's really disappointing to see how poor the copyediting is. Not that spelling, grammar etc is my first concern when I'm reading a book I enjoy, but when you keep noticing these things - even the spelling of people's names changes... and given that this is a proper publishing house... ANYWAY, I will survive.
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