Kate Shugak, all five feet and 110 pounds of her, is a force to be reckoned with. Straight black hair, flat cheekbones, brown eyes at a slight tilt and bronze skin, she has returned to northern Alaska and her Aleut roots after working with the D.A.'s office in Anchorage. There are hints of what happened to her there--an angry scar across her neck and a fierce demeanor, but I suspect the reasons for her return will be explored as her story progresses.
A Cold Day for Murder is Dana Stabenow's first Kate Shugak mystery set in the Park, a fictional National Park near the Kanuyaq River and the village of Niniltna. It's peopled with various interesting and unusual characters--her extended family, other Native tribes, and an assortment of people who want to either exploit or protect the land, so you can imagine the conflict from the many personalities. In other words the perfect place to set a mystery series-rich in setting, ideologies and temperaments. I have always imagined that Alaska might well be home to a few misfits and madmen, or perhaps better to say independent thinkers, and this first outing with Kate and Mutt (her best companion--a half-wolf half-husky dog who is fiercely loyal to Kate) has pretty much confirmed that idea.
Stabenow spends a fair amount of time describing the setting, which seems at times to take on a personality of its own. Majestic beauty coupled with extremes--heights, vistas, temperatures, moody weather. And there are equally as many glimpses at Kate's personality and her environment. Stabenow is very good at showing and letting the reader paint a picture in their mind while adding on bits and pieces that form a colorful (and at times very brisk) backdrop. Kate is one of the indigenous Native population, and there is an invisible yet very real line drawn between those born there and Outsiders. Kate has straddled that line, though, since she left to be educated and worked outside the Park, and yet she has returned home and you get the sense she will be staying now for the duration. She is smart, instinctive, calm yet passionate when required and utterly fearless. She's just the sort of protagonist I like reading spending my time with.
In this first mystery a young park ranger, an Outsider, has gone missing. It might not be so unusual given the precariousness of winters in northern Alaska and it is nearing the holiday season, but he had been butting in on local politics and offering his suggestions on how to manage the ecology and potential profit from the Park. Perhaps not the best idea. But when a second man, an investigator (also an Outsider, from Bah-ston, fair-haired and something of a love interest for Kate) also goes missing, something is very obviously awry. The park ranger has a Congressman-father who has called in the FBI, so when questions need to be asked, it behooves them to go through an intermediary, enter Kate Shugak.
Kate is not only savvy enough to know how to ask questions, and to whom to pose them, but she also has a connection with Anchorage and beyond. Kate worked for Jack Morgan, and perhaps their relationship was something more than a working partnership, and now he has come to ask for her help. She gives it begrudgingly as she knows one of the missing men, but there is certainly more to the story when it comes to Jack as well. There is a history there between them and in more ways than one. Likely their personal interactions coupled with their working relationship has a lot to do with why Kate has returned home. I'll just say that she is not shy about throwing punches if need be.
This is a wonderful first mystery and start of a series that I fully expect to be quite substantial. It's filled with interesting characters, a full cast of them, beautiful (and maybe sometimes ugly, too) settings, a solid story with a strong detective slant that builds in suspense but also culturally, politically, and ecologically relevant, too. The sign of a good mystery . . . actually the sign of any good book? I wanted to continue inhabiting the space even after I turned that last page. I will be spending more time with Kate and Mutt. This is one I can happily recommend.