I rather enjoyed this, even though I've seen a lot of people say they were disappointed by it. As crime fiction goes, the mystery in here isn't particularly complex and the investigation doesn't take a lot of doing. But this book is as much about the community, the way of life and the people Kate Shugak, our heroine, knows. As it's the first book in what looks like it's going to be a long series (and I have the next two books waiting to be read - yippee!) I guess this book is really setting the scene for what's to come. Well, I'll find out if the mystery side of thing steps up in the next two books.Kate Shugak is my new hero =) She's great. She's a lone wolf, and lives out in rather cosy comfort in the middle of no where, 5 miles from her nearest neighbour, in the Alaskan wilderness. She's an Aleut, and so part of the native community, but also seen a little bit like a defector, as she did move out to Anchorage to study, and then worked for the police... district attorney or whatever... until she had her throat slit by a child abuser (she won the fight though, of course).A park ranger disappeared six weeks ago. Two weeks ago the investigator send to find him also disappears. Kate is brought in to investigate. The mystery does get solved, but as I said earlier, I don't think this is the strongest aspect of the book.It's interesting to get an insight in the immense wilderness of the land there, the cold of the winter, and the community - the problems they have with alcoholism, the land being taken advantage of for mining, oil pipelines etc brought in by big corporations who aren't particularly interested in the environment or the locals. Also this is a very even balanced tale, and there aren't any monsters. You also get to see that there are problems with the locals - the attitude towards "outsiders" is very sad - basically because the two guys were white boys from out of state, some people's attitudes are hey ho, shit happens, towards their disappearences. And the way that some will cling on to the old ways and not accept that the rest of the world is going to encroach whatever, and try to take control of this situation. Women are held back, with little to look forward to other than weaving baskets and popping out kids. Kate's cousin Xenia wants help to move to Anchorage, but the matriarch, the grandmother, is dead set against it. Others are fearful of what life will be life if the park is opened up to the rest of the world and they get the dreaded tourists (perhaps rightly so, because some places in the world have been ruined by tourism). I suspect a lot of these threads will continue and develope in future books. Looking forward to it.
I admit I like free shit. I also admit I’m not entirely rational in my thought process. For example, I happily hand over my Bouchercon and Left Coast Crime Conference fees and feel like I’ve won the lottery when I receive a bag filled with books. Seriously, this ends up being one of the major highlights of these conferences. So in my continued pursuit of this high, minus the conference fees, I have decided to scour Amazon for the best free short stories and books available. With that being said, let’s get to the review.The beginning of A COLD DAY FOR MURDER reminded me of a tall sequoia, as I stood on the uppermost branches, staring out at a picturesque world, before I slipped and then smacked every branch on the way down. Even though I’ve never been to Alaska, I feel like I could paint a picture of its vast wilderness and attractive scenery and include a few interesting characters to boot, if I should so desire. Several of the chapters began with multiple pages of description, the text coming to life right before my eyes, springing forth like a cactus in the desert.It wasn’t until I was about 36% through this tale on my Kindle (this transfers to roughly 71 pages into the print edition) before the mystery really took hold and took off. Had it not been for some lovely description and Kate’s straightforward, no-holds-barred mentality, I might have given up on this novel earlier. As it stands, though, I was rather glad I pushed through. Even though Kate isn’t the most likeable character, I really enjoyed her toughness and even found her abrasiveness rather amusing most of the time. She’s a character with some rough edges that I’m sure will get smoothed out in one of her later adventures.As for the other characters, none are as fleshed out as Kate Shugak, but all showed signs of life and enough enthusiasm for further tales. The mystery proved interesting and engaging, but at times it felt like it took a backseat to the characters and the scenery. In the end, though, this was an enjoyable read from the first page to the last, it all fit together perfectly, and I look forward to catching up on more of Kate’s exploits.Cross-posted at Robert's Reads
Do You like book A Cold Day For Murder (1992)?
This is the first of Dana Stabenow's novels that I've read, and I think the first she wrote. I almost stopped about half-way through but I'm glad I didn't. After a long period of introducing characters and the Alaska locale, with a plot going nowhere, the pace did pick up and the story became interesting. Not fantastic, but interesting. There is some good writing with relaxed and amusing observations, but there are also segments where the writing just "tries too hard," and other segments where it seems cliche-driven. The solution to the crime came much too fast and without the reader having much opportunity to share in the detecting. The action scenes didn't generate much tension. In summary, it's an OK read, but I cannot imagine why it won an Edgar Award.
—Lewis Weinstein
I really rather enjoyed in this book. Within the first chapter I thought to myself I had picked up another book that was part of a series, but I was quite surprised when checking the author out on this site that this is, in fact, the first in the series.The more I think on that the more I like it, this book made me feel that there were all these pact connections - some were spelt explicitly for you, whilst others weren't - that if you knew about would help your understanding of the main characters actions. But then I find out that nope, there aren't any (except in the authors mind). I do not think I have ever read a book that is first in a series that managed so well to create a well rounded world.There were parts of the book that, not necessarily dragged but something like that. Although I was interested to learn more about (and forgive my being very un-PC here) Alaskan Native Americans and how they lived, I felt at times that I needed some prior knowledge to really understand what the author was getting at.The outcome of the book was good, I realised who the killer was as Kate made her way to where the bodies were - excellent reveal and I was kind of shocked.When it comes to crime/thriller books I realise I tend to like maybe every other book that an author writes (certainly this is the case with Cornwell, and Reichs to some extent) but I would like to try other books by this author.
—Carina
I really wanted to like this book. I definitely feel guilty about the 2-star rating. But it was really just "okay" for me.The second half was much better than the first. While I'm sure many people would appreciate how the author brings Alaska to life, I have to have character interaction or I lose interest. I'm not a very visual person, and the vivid descriptions of the area just didn't pull me in.While I did like some of the characters, it was more of a mild like. Perhaps if I got to know them better, I'd feel more invested in the story. I think Kate is probably a very interesting character, but she's a little tough to love - which surprised me because I usually like strong female leads. If she was a real person, I'd call her stand-offish. As a reader, I felt like I just could quite get close to her, and I think that's essential for this story to work, at least for me. I know this is a popular series, but perhaps this author's style just doesn't work for me.
—Kitty
