Breakup - [7] Kate Shugak Mystery by Dana Stabenow

"Breakup" is what Alaskans call their brief spring, when the state "melts into a 586,412-square-mile pile of slush." The seasonal change unhinges Alaskans just as Santa Ana winds unhinge Los Angelenos in Raymond Chandler's mysteries. Kate Shugak lives in the bush with Mutt, a wonderful husky-wolf mix, and is facing a terrible breakup. Her taxes are intractable; she has three encounters with grizzlies, two near misses with airplanes, and ends up in a handful of gunfights--and a corpse turns up near her homestead. This sixth entry in Stabenow's lively, entertaining series offers a tough, insightful heroine; a set of intriguing, slightly eccentric supporting characters; and a healthy dose of Alaskan atmosphere. Although the mystery element isn't even introduced until well into the story, Stabenow more than compensates with a detailed look at how Shugak and company deal with the effects of breakup: verve is important, but it helps to have Jimmy Buffet playing in the background.
AUDIO NEEDED!!!

Blood will tell - [06] Kate Shugak Mystery by Dana Stabenow

Mystery matters less than people and place in this sixth adventure for Native Alaskan investigator Kate Shugak (after Play with Fire). Relishing the prospect of a solitary winter at her isolated cabin, Shugak is pressured back to Anchorage by her grandmother, a leader of her Native association. A member of the association board dies mysteriously as the group prepares to vote on a controversial development initiative for tribal hunting and fishing lands. Soon after Shugak agrees to help, another board member suffers a fatal "accident." With the help of her lover, Jack Morgan, a local policeman, and the 140-pound Mutt, her half-Husky, half-Arctic gray wolf, Shugak sorts through tribal politics and a long trail of corruption in battles over land and oil. Sensing that lobbyists and developers have penetrated the Native association, Shugak fears that the truth may hit close to home. Even if Stabenow sometimes lapses into lecture tones to solve the puzzle, Alaska's rough and tumble history fascinates, and Shugak is an eloquent voice for Native Alaskan concerns in changing times.
AUDIO NEEDED!!!!

 Play With Fire - [05] Kate Shugak Mystery by  Dana Stabenow

While picking morels in an area recently burned by forest fire, series protagonist Kate Shugak (A Cold Day for Murder, Berkeley, 1992) discovers a body covered in ashes and mushrooms. Attempts to identify the man coincide with Shugak's search for a local boy's missing father-a teacher ostracized by his father's Jerry Falwell-type community. As in previous titles, Stabenow utilizes police procedural connections via Alaskan troopers, endows her writing with admirable sensory desciptions of flora and fauna, and provides unusual settings for her deceptively simple plot. A fine selection.

AUDIO NEEDED!!!

A Cold Blooded Business - [04] Kate Shugak Mystery by  Dana Stabenow

Stabenow's hardcover debut marks the fourth outing for Kate Shugak (last seen in Dead in the Water ), a native Aleut who is building a solid reputation as a tough freelance investigator. Although Kate has no love for the oil companies drilling in Alaska, she accepts a commission from Royal Petroleum Co. to find out who is bringing drugs into the Prudhoe Bay work site where there have been several overdoses and one death. Over the objections of RPetCo's security chief, Lou Childress, Kate goes in as an employee, getting a good look at her surroundings as a driver for Toni Hartzler, who gives PR tours to visiting dignitaries. She gains an instant "in" with the locals when she encounters Jerry McIsaac, an old acquaintance who works there as a medic. Kate spots plenty of drugs at her first party but doesn't observe anyone dealing. Of equal interest to her are the Native American artifacts being unearthed by archeologists at a local dig. While Kate is getting caught up in artifacts, she fails to notice that the dealers themselves are playing sleuth, putting her in danger. Throughout, Stabenow makes effective use of the regional setting, culture and Kate's personal heritage to add depth and color to this brisk and thoughtful tale.


AUDIO NEEDED!!!

The opening of Kate Shugak's third outing will have landlubbers wondering, What on earth is this woman doing? (Answer: shifting a crab pot on a boat deck during a storm.) But once readers get their sea legs, they'll realize that Stabenow ( A Cold Day for Murder ) offers a satisfactory blend of mystery and danger that is balanced by a gentler side, a view of Alaskan native culture. Kate, who occasionally investigates for the Anchorage district attorney, is working on the Avilda , a crabber, hoping to learn--on the quiet--why two of its crew members disappeared during its last trip. ..
AUDIO URGENTLY NEEDED!!!!