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White Heat (Edie Kiglatuk Mystery #1)

3.31 of 5 stars 3.31 · rating details · 578 ratings · 164 reviews

Half Inuit, half outsider, Edie Kiglatuk is the best guide in her corner of the Arctic, but as a woman she gets only grudging respect from the elders of her isolated community on Ellesmere Island. When a man is shot and killed while on an ''authentic'' Arctic adventure under her watch, the murder attracts police sergeant Derek Palliser's attention. As Edie sets out to disc...more

Hardcover, 386 pages

Published March 1st 2011 by Mantle

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Nov 16, 2012 Bettie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Bettie by: Laura

Shelves: radio-4x, published-2011, series, polar, fradio, canada, mystery-thriller, autumn-2012, debut

Next on BBC Radio 4 Extra
Monday 06:30 BBC Radio 4 Extra

A soupçon of Tenderness of Wolves flurried together with a smidgeon of Smilla, and isn't that Kate Shugak's distinctive footprint in the snow.

Winter Season 2012/2013

3* White Heat
CR Winter of the World

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Nov 16, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Bettie, Carey

Shelves: audio-books, canada, suspense-thriller, read-2012

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
On an island hunting trip, Inuit tourist guide Edie finds herself and her family embroiled in a murder. Adaptation read by Denise Gough.

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Sep 11, 2011 Annmarie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: families, mystery, first-reads, canada, arctic, inuit

A compelling, gritty debut mystery set in the frozen tundra of the arctic, on Canada's far northern Ellesmere Island, close to Greenland. I found the descriptions of the rapidly changing, harsh, beautiful location and of the way of life of the rugged, troubled residents to be fascinating; the murder mystery was pretty good. 3.5 stars overall. I've read that the British author, who has previously written nonfiction, is at work on a second mystery featuring the appealing main character, Edie. I an...more A compelling, gritty debut mystery set in the frozen tundra of the arctic, on Canada's far northern Ellesmere Island, close to Greenland. I found the descriptions of the rapidly changing, harsh, beautiful location and of the way of life of the rugged, troubled residents to be fascinating; the murder mystery was pretty good. 3.5 stars overall. I've read that the British author, who has previously written nonfiction, is at work on a second mystery featuring the appealing main character, Edie. I anticipate it will be even better.

Half-Inuit Arctic guide and hunter Edie Kiglatuk is leading a routine hunting trek with two qalunaat, or whites, when one is shot while she is off making tea for the group. Edie's beloved stepson Joe, in training to be a nurse, comes by snowmobile to help since a blizzard grounds the available planes, but the man dies anyway. Despite their doubts, Edie and Joe acquiesce to the Tribal Council's decision that the death was self-inflicted, a hunting accident. The Council doesn't want one of the only profitable sources of income on the Island, the guiding, to be impacted by suspicious death investigations.

Edie decides not to rock the boat, since gaining the patriarchal Council's approval to be a guide was difficult enough despite her enormous skill as a hunter and guide, and she needs the part time guiding jobs to pay for Joe's schooling. But Joe is more doubtful, and when another guiding trip goes wrong, more deaths prompts the fierce and independent Edie to start investigating with the reluctant help of Inuit police sergeant Derek Palliser, who would much rather be researching lemmings. The numerous threads of the plot feature culture clashes between Inuit and whites, past injustices, energy corporations' interests in exploring the Arctic, drug use and the high suicide rate on the Island, Greenland, NASA's presence on the island, and more. Edie and Derek are very believable and sympathetic characters, despite their various personal failings, and their love of their arctic landscape is contagious.

I won an advance readers copy through First Reads. The book was a great accompaniment to my vacation trip to Canada (but not northern Canada!).(less)

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Jul 15, 2012 Dan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Found in Parade 12 Great Summer Books, July 10, 2011.

An enjoyable read, but no great art here.

Edie Kiglutak is a likeable enough hero, and one that we root for throughout the book, but there is just something missing. She suffers the loss of her stepson, and soldiers on to find his killer.

The most interesting part of the story for me proved to be McGrath's insights into Inuit culture. From Edie never locking her door to burial practices to the life lived close to the land, I felt I had a behind-...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Raven rated it 2 of 5 stars

Set in the icy wastes of a small Inuit community in the High Arctic on Ellsemere Island and the fictional Craig Island this is a tale of the harsh realities of survival and murder. The story centres on a community facing the common woes of an indigenous people subjected to their dependence on a larger sovereign state, in this case, Canada, and highlights the social problems of drink and drug dependency that these and similar indigenous communities across the globe suffer. This, for me, was proba...more

Set in the icy wastes of a small Inuit community in the High Arctic on Ellsemere Island and the fictional Craig Island this is a tale of the harsh realities of survival and murder. The story centres on a community facing the common woes of an indigenous people subjected to their dependence on a larger sovereign state, in this case, Canada, and highlights the social problems of drink and drug dependency that these and similar indigenous communities across the globe suffer. This, for me, was probably the most interesting aspect of the book as McGrath documents the day-to-day lives of these inhabitants referring often to the minutiae of their daily routines, language and life within this unrelenting environment, drawing on her established reputation as a non-fiction writer. The depiction of the landscape and the sheer grind of existence living with these climatic conditions was captured perfectly throughout and it did amuse me somewhat that a character refers to one day with a temperature of -25 as ‘balmy’! So these aspects of the book should have created a perfect backdrop for a gripping tale of murder in the Arctic wastes…

However, the main plot line was a disjointed and slightly unbalanced affair focusing on the character of Edie Kiglatuk, a part-time teacher and guide, and opening with the murder of a tourist she is accompanying on a visit to the island. As the town council are keen to sweep this incident under the carpet and the body count continues to grow, including one of Edie’s nearest and dearest, Edie finds herself drawn into a dangerous conspiracy concerning the tapping of natural resources in the Arctic region by an unscrupulous business organisation. This leads Edie to a seemingly suicidal mission to mainland Greenland to uncover and expose this conspiracy putting herself and those within her community at great danger. To be honest I found the plot a bit turgid with the central conspiracy not really gripping me in the way that I think it should, and I felt that at times some fiercer editing was needed with some passages meandering on losing this reader’s interest. In terms of characterisation, aside from Edie who was a well-drawn and empathetic character, the other protagonists were less effective particularly the male characters, and I think that maybe McGrath focused to much on the factual construct of the book leaving gaps elsewhere, which would hinder the engagement of the reader with the overall story line. I think this is something that McGrath overcomes in the follow up book ‘The Boy In The Snow’, but for me, despite the strength of the historical, political and cultural aspects of ‘White Heat, I was a little disappointed with this debut.

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May 12, 2012 Blood Rose Books rated it 3 of 5 stars

In her debut fictional novel M.J. McGrath takes readers to the far Canadian north, where the nothing is able to rot, therefore, nothing is ever forgotten.

Edie Kiglatuk is a half Inuit, half White hunter and guide on Ellesmere Island in the settlement of Autisaq. Although due to the fact that she is a woman, many of the elders would like to put a stop her practicing these "man" occupations. Edie is on a regular guiding expedition when she hears gun shots off towards camp where she left her charge...more In her debut fictional novel M.J. McGrath takes readers to the far Canadian north, where the nothing is able to rot, therefore, nothing is ever forgotten.

Edie Kiglatuk is a half Inuit, half White hunter and guide on Ellesmere Island in the settlement of Autisaq. Although due to the fact that she is a woman, many of the elders would like to put a stop her practicing these "man" occupations. Edie is on a regular guiding expedition when she hears gun shots off towards camp where she left her charges. Edie returns to camp to find one of her charges shot, dying and the other man unable to handle the situation. Edie does not believe that the shooting was an accident but as she returns home, the elders are determined to sweep the incident under the rug as it could be bad for business to state that the death was possible a murder. This begins Edie's journey into the corruption of the government and Inuit world, where she is the only voice willing to stand up for justice of those who have been deemed to get in the way of "progress".

This was a very interesting read for me. McGrath has done a great amount of research about the Canadian north, from the weather and land scape to the culture and language of the Inuit. I liked that McGrath used Inuit language as well as English when Edie and other Inuit characters interact. McGrath excels in the descriptive nature of the book, she uses fantastic imagery that you will feel like you are on Ellesmere Island (you will have to make sure that you have a sweater near as you are going to feel the cold of the Tundra). I also liked that McGrath used the Inuit way of life to describe what was happening within the investigation or the interaction with nature, the weather, or the past. It was verys interesting to learn just a little bit of the Inuit culture while reading this book.

McGrath is well researched in this topic, though her personal opinion about how the Inuit got to Ellesmere Island and what the Canadian government has done to the Inuit and their culture, is present throughout the book. McGarth is definitely drawing on her discoveries of her non-fiction novel The Long Exile which is a novel about Inuit Betrayal and Survival in the High Arctic. This is very evident in the voice that is used throughout the novel, from the disdain of Edie the main character about the mayor wanting to revolutionize the village she lives in as well as how McGrath portrays of the RCMP officers as lazy, incompetent, their willingness to sweep things underneath the rug and one of the officers obsession in Lemmings.

Edie was an interesting character, she had the ability at times to be her woman self, but also the hunter self when she need. Edie would pull out the hunter side of her when her own survival depends on it I like that McGrath let Edie have a self destruction side when she was younger and that the need to drink is ever present in her everyday life, which is true for all additions and recovering addicts. Edie was a nice unpredictable character, as you never really knew what path that she was going to take and whether she was going to be pulled back into the destructive nature of alcoholism.

My one main criticism of this book is that it goes through several slow parts, where it can be a struggle to continue reading, but if you push through you are always happy that you continue on. I think the slowness was caused by McGrath attempting to put as much Inuit culture information as possible, that often the story was left behind in these facts and we lost the investigative side of the novel. Additionally, I think in the second half of the book McGrath lost her way a little bit and wanted to put as many red herrings in her novel as possible to start you guessing of who as involved in the murder. I think she was attempting to make up for not having the facts and clues earlier in the book.

This book is for those who want more from a novel than the over sensationalized violence associated with a pile of bodies of a serial killer in the thriller and mystery genres, for these readers White Heat will be a welcome change. McGrath has a way with words and description that you find yourself lost in the imagery throughout the book and you will feel like you are in the Great Canadian North.

Enjoy!!!! (less)

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May 06, 2012 Rob Kitchin rated it 5 of 5 stars

As debut crime novels goes, White Heat couldn’t be much better. It has everything a good crime novel should have: strong plot, excellent characterization, vivid sense of place, a dollop full of history, culture and social politics, and a swirl of conspiracy. The book doesn’t simply describe the world of Edie Kiglatuk - the small, tight knit community and the icy, harsh landscape - but places the reader into it. Edie is a wonderful creation - a headstrong woman who rails against custom and tradit...more

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Oct 14, 2011 Hoover Public Library Adult Fiction rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, thriller

In tiny settlement of Autisaq, in the immense and uncompromising tundra of the Canadian Artic, a visiting tourist, Felix Wagner, is killed while on a shooting expedition led by the local guide Edie Kiglatuk, a half white, half Inuit former polar bear hunter. The local elders are keen to dismiss the death as an accident. Only Edie is left unsettled. Edie is a recovering, sometimes failing, alcoholic who sits around watching silent movies while eating seal blood soup. While on another hunting expe...more

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Sep 24, 2011 Sandy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

I seriously tried to read this book but I struggled through it and finally gave up on page 187. I know I was halfway through it but the book could not keep my attention. I am not a reader who gives up on a book very often, I never start a book I don't think I can't finish, so I was kinda upset with myself for not finishing it but it was too slow for me. For the first 100 pages, I don't really remember much. Just recently in the book, the action just started picking up and the victims started pil...more

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Mar 16, 2011 Miles rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews

Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy and Buster Keaton – not the first thing that comes to mind when reviewing a book set in the desolate regions of the Arctic but believe you me, these famous Hollywood stars of the classic silent era all have one thing in common – they perform almost on a daily basis in Autisaq in the Arctic – more often than not comforting “White Heat’s” protagonist Edie Kiglatuk in her front room.

A well established and published non-fictional author (Long Exile,...more Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy and Buster Keaton – not the first thing that comes to mind when reviewing a book set in the desolate regions of the Arctic but believe you me, these famous Hollywood stars of the classic silent era all have one thing in common – they perform almost on a daily basis in Autisaq in the Arctic – more often than not comforting “White Heat’s” protagonist Edie Kiglatuk in her front room.

A well established and published non-fictional author (Long Exile, Hopping), Melanie McGrath is a relative newcomer when it comes to fictional titles – indeed “White Heat” is her first foray into the world of make-believe. Although a terrific and powerful work of fiction, McGrath blends her immeasurable knowledge of the Arctic and Inuit to deliver a novel that encompasses many of the realities and problems faced by the Inuit community - crime, the harsh environment, education (or lack thereof) and political corruption.

In 1953 the Canadian Government relocated three dozen Inuit from their established homes in Hudson Bay - North East of Canada – to Ellesmere Island – a barren and underdeveloped strip of land – with the promise they could return home. McGrath writing under the name MJ McGrath briefly touches on this piece of history in “White Heat” as Edie travels the region in a quest for truth and justice.

“Nothing on the tundra rotted . . . The whole history of human settlement lay exposed there, under that big northern sky. There was nowhere here for bones to hide.

On Craig Island, a vast landscape of ice north of the Arctic Circle, three travellers are hunting duck. Among them is expert Inuit hunter and guide, Edie Kiglatuk; a woman born of this harsh, beautiful terrain. The two men are tourists, experiencing Arctic life in the raw, but when one of the men is shot dead in mysterious circumstances, the local Council of Elders in the tiny settlement of Autisaq is keen to dismiss it as an accident.

Then two adventurers arrive in Autisaq hoping to search for the remains of the legendary Victorian explorer Sir James Fairfax. The men hire Edie – whose ancestor Welatok guided Fairfax – along with Edie’s stepson Joe, and two parties set off in different directions. Four days later, Joe returns to Autisaq frostbitten, hypothermic and disoriented, to report his man missing. And when things take an even darker turn, Edie finds herself heartbroken, and facing the greatest challenge of her life . . .”

Full Review on my blog http://www.milorambles.com/2011/03/14...(less)

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Aug 07, 2011 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

I won this book as a First Reads giveaway.

The imagery in this book is phenomenal. The author brings you to a world that most people never see in there lives, well except on television.

The main character Edie is an Inuit and she is investigating some deaths that occur in the Arctic near her home. No, she is not a detective she is a teacher and a hunter.While most people want to forget what happened and call it an accident she needs to know the truth.

Throughout her investigation Edie becomes clo...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Paula rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone interested in the Arctic and Inuit life

Recommended to Paula by: a librarian

"It was OK" really describes this book. The heroine, Edie Kiglatuk, half Inuit and half Caucasian, is an Arctic hunter and so an unusual heroine. She's an interesting person and a different sort of detective, for sure. Not as much can be said for the remaining cast of characters who run the gamut from stock to boring. The hero (sort of),police sergeant Derek Palliser, shares Edie's mixed racial heritage but isn't nearly as interesting as a character. He comes across as flat, unengaged and surpr...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Pam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Brilliant descriptive setting in the Arctic. One of those books where it hits the spot in your brain where you believe it's true, then get disappointed when you reach the end and the author says that the towns and island in the story are invented - oh, shame. I wanted to visit the island. Want to go to Northern Canada though. Maybe one day. Have ordered a non-fiction book from this author about times in the north.

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Feb 06, 2013 Joanne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller, audible, mystery

I listened to the audio version of this book and thought it was absolutely brilliant! Set in an Inuit village in the forbidding Arctic Circle, it is a mystery, thriller, and a fascinating look into Inuit culture!

Edie Kiglatuk is a divorced teacher and part-time guide for hunters intrepid enough to brave the frigid temperatures to hunt bears and other Arctic creatures. Out guiding two such hunters to Craig Island, the hunters become the hunted when one of the hunters is shot, although not with o...more I listened to the audio version of this book and thought it was absolutely brilliant! Set in an Inuit village in the forbidding Arctic Circle, it is a mystery, thriller, and a fascinating look into Inuit culture!

Edie Kiglatuk is a divorced teacher and part-time guide for hunters intrepid enough to brave the frigid temperatures to hunt bears and other Arctic creatures. Out guiding two such hunters to Craig Island, the hunters become the hunted when one of the hunters is shot, although not with one of their rifles. Edie's stepson, Joe, who works at the clinic, arrives to help, but the man dies on the flight back to the village. The Mayor and the village elders are anxious to sweep the facts of the man's death under the rug, and prevail upon Edie and the surviving hunter, Andy Taylor, to agree to say that he accidentally shot himself. This doesn't sit well with Edie, but the council not so subtly makes it clear that if she doesn't cooperate in their version of the shooting she won't be guiding any more hunters in the future. In a strange turn of events, the ill-fated Andy Taylor shows up again, this time with the descendent of one of the original Arctic explorers, and they too wish to go to Craig Island.

Edie is still somewhat out of favor with the Mayor Simione, her former brother-in-law, and the guiding job is given to her beloved stepson, Joe. Edie worries about this, as she never had a good feeling about Taylor, but decides she's just being overprotective of the young man she helped raise. When Joe comes back two days late, alone and suffering from hypothermia and frostbite, her initial misgivings are proven to be right. Someone is searching for something on Craig Island, and they're willing to kill anyone who gets in their way. The natural resources of the island seem to be of interest to two big oil companies, but the corruption may have spread to the Inuit people as well. Edie's undaunted search for the truth behind the deaths, aided somewhat by the distracted and not very cooperative policeman, Derek Palliser, leads her in several directions and will cause her to question all that she holds dear.

I found the author's portrayal of Edie and the Inuit people and their culture to be fascinating and, insofar as the internal politics and problems of the "tribe," probably quite accurate. Both of my parents worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs - my father before his retirement as the Superintendent of the Papago Reservation, and my mother as a social worker. I lived on the Apache, Hopi and Papago Reservations until I was a teenager. The way the Inuit regard the white man and the tribal politics in this book was very familiar, as were the problems with alcoholism and adjustment to modern life in general, and just learning about traditional Inuit foods was fascinating! I found myself wondering if I'd ever be able to chew on whale blubber or slurp seal blood soup!

A great read, with lots of plot twists and turns!(less)

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Oct 05, 2011 Kari rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, 2011

White Heat is beautifully written. The author did a wonderful job of describing the area in which the story took place. As I was reading, I really felt like I had been dropped in the Arctic region. Her descriptions of the landscape make me want to visit there myself someday. I also really liked her characters. Edie was so believable and not without fault. I want to know more about her and I hope that the author visits her again. I also enjoyed the friendship that develops between Edie and Derek....more

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Jan 09, 2012 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011reads, fiction, mystery

The first of a series of mysteries based in the fictional Inuit town of Autisaq on Ellesmere Island. It starts off kind of slow, I think to take the time properly introduce the characters, environment, and culture. The narrative pace does eventually pick up and it turns into quite an intriguing mystery.

Obviously the harsh and unique landscape is one of the most compelling things about the book. The authors descriptions of the arctic are very evocative and it was easy to imagine what it must be...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Julia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

I received this book for free from the goodreads first reads program.

I really enjoyed the setting of this book. An Inuit community in the town of Autisaq, in the Arctic. I felt that I was getting insight into a culture so different from my own. I have always been fascinated by the Artic and the people who live there.

The story was a little slow moving for me, but the pacing did seem in keeping with the unhurried lifestyle presented in the book. I liked the main character, Edie, and I wanted to se...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Reviewing this book is almost going to be like reviewing two different books. I gave it 3 stars b/c I couldn’t give it 2 ½ and didn’t want to go as low as 2. The book is categorized as a “Mystery” on Amazon.com, but the “mystery” part of it is really REALLY S-L-O-W and overly complicated. It consists of the main character, Edie Kiglatuk, a part Inuit, part Outsider woman who is a guide for tourists who want to come explore the Arctic region. She lives on Ellesmere Island, off the northwest coast...more Reviewing this book is almost going to be like reviewing two different books. I gave it 3 stars b/c I couldn’t give it 2 ½ and didn’t want to go as low as 2. The book is categorized as a “Mystery” on Amazon.com, but the “mystery” part of it is really REALLY S-L-O-W and overly complicated. It consists of the main character, Edie Kiglatuk, a part Inuit, part Outsider woman who is a guide for tourists who want to come explore the Arctic region. She lives on Ellesmere Island, off the northwest coast of Greenland, well above the Arctic Circle. Without giving away too much, a loved one of Edie’s dies, and she begins to suspect foul play. This leads on a fairly preposterous story which includes plot points involving Russia, Big-Oil, meteorites, drugs, and craters or “astroblemes” as they are referred to in the artic. It unfolds very slowly, is way too complicated, and as I mentioned before, it seems highly implausible. I listened to this as an audiobook, and I must say, if it was a regular book, I would have given up.

HOWEVER, and it’s a big however, the side of the book that explores the Inuit culture is fascinating. Not knowing anything about the Inuit, I found myself doing research online, and looking up the location on Google Earth to find out more about it. The author does a superb job of immersing the reader in the culture of the Inuit, from the food to the weather to the alcoholism. That being said, I would recommend this book for that aspect of it, and maybe resign yourself to a mediocre mystery. Some of the food is so nasty sounding “Seal Blood Soup”, that I wondered if the author was trying to just gross readers out. However, after doing some research online, it was all very authentic. I feel like I learned a little bit about a completely foreign culture; people who live in four months of total darkness, and face incredibly hostile weather year after year. The supporting characters are all fairly unique and colorful characters, and I end up really rooting for Edie, as the lone, small voice in a community of very traditional Inuit men, some of whom dismiss her because she is a woman.

Overall good, but more for the anthropological vaue than the mystery!!
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Jan 28, 2012 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Carol by: The Readers Podcast - Gavin & Simon

I got a hair behind on my reviews and have been trying to find some time to say a bit about White Heat. This book must have been under my radar before I heard about it on The Readers but it's definitely Simon, who made me run to the shelves to scoop this up to read. His enthusiasm sparked my interest and I can say I was not disappointed.

What captured me most about White Heat was its Arctic setting and Inuit culture and heritage. You can not read this without being just a tad curious about what t...more

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Aug 12, 2011 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

‘White Heat’ by M.J. McGrath is one of the more creative mysteries I’ve read in a while. The setting is the frigid Arctic, a land that is typically thought of as blanketed with endless ice and snow, but, as McGrath explains, is filled with natural anomalies and subtleties known best to the handful of people making their home in a (seemingly) inhospitable environment. The novel kicks off with a series of murders that local teacher and Inuit guide Edie Kiglatuk—taking a personal interest in the de...more

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Dec 03, 2011 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Today's Arctic Circle Canada and Greenland -- another world. It's a mystery, but also kind of a thriller. The author did a great job of engaging me on these various moments of danger that Edie/Kigga got herself into. I also really liked the moments of "tracking" -- really observing the environment and figuring out clues/whether things were safe or dangerous, etc. A brief but beautiful moment of Edie seeing the Aurora in Greenland. The plot got a bit complicated and maybe farfetched as it went on...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Merelyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

I like mystery, but with something extra to it, not just a plain ole shootem up. This bk is set in the northern area of Canada, among the Inuit people. The author gives you a good story, but also gives a look into the culture & the area of Northern Canada. How the main charecter hunts, boats, & how to dress in the cold climate. How the long days of winter dark affect people, & how happy when sunshine comes back in summer. The lead character is an Inuit woman that leads hunting expedi...more

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Aug 13, 2011 Sharonm rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really great first in a series set in the far north, with an Inuit protagonist. Edie is a part time teacher and part time hunting guide, who gets herself involved in a complex situation which has geologic aspects. Throughout, the author writes beautifully of the frozen landscape and touchingly of the connections between the people. The difficulties both young and old have in trying to make a life in this remote desolate environment are convincingly written. The only nit I have to pick about this...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Tressa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, mystery

I enjoyed White Heat. The setting and culture were quite different compared to other books, but the underlying human drives were universal. It was a very interesting story. The first half does move slowly, but the story speeds up in the latter half before slowing down again.

I liked Edie, Joe, Derek, and all the other Inuit characters. I thought the narrator did an excellent job. Unfortunately, I cannot recall her name. I really liked the pauses and her intonation; it was different from what I wa...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Booknblues rated it 4 of 5 stars

There is nothing more cooling than reading a book about the Arctic in the Summertime and despite the title M.J. McGrath's book White Heat provides that relief. The setting is Ellesmere Island, property of Canada and the heroine is Edie Kiglatuk, a part time guide and part time teacher.

Trouble begins for Edie when one of her clients is killed on a remote island. Following her journey we discover a how tenacious, resourceful and defiant Edie can be despite the ghosts which haunt her.

I loved the se...more

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Oct 17, 2011 Nicolemauerman rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think if this book had a different setting I wouldn’t have liked it nearly as much. Taking place in the high Arctic, White Heat is a murder mystery. Edie, a mid-thirties woman it the one who is left to question the Inuit elder’s decision to sweep these murders under the rug. I learned a lot about the Inuit culture by reading this book. I thought that part was pretty fascinating. However I thought the ending was kind of confusing. I couldn’t really keep the names straight and I kept having to r...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Katy rated it 2 of 5 stars

The story backround was unique and the culture of the characters intriguing. The author lost me when it seemed she couldn't figure out from whose point of view the story should be told. It wasn't until mid-book that we finally go back to the murder in question. Shifting the point of view to peripheral characters did nothing to advance the story (really, just how interested are we supposed to be in the habits of lemmings) and only annoyed this reader. I think if this book were tidied up to make a...more

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Nov 16, 2011 L-J Johnson rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What I liked: the author's encyclopedic knowledge of Inuit culture and the Arctic environment, two things I knew pretty much zilch about before reading this book, and found very interesting. The sense of place was superior; I was freezing the whole time I read. Also, the two main characters, Edie and Derek, imperfect but sympathetic. What I didn't like: the writing - dulll, uninventive, amateurish. The plot: boring, unnecessarily convoluted, major "so what?" The character development: none; pote...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Jim Mcfarlane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

As a writer, I analyze books for writing craft. One common piece of writing advice is to make the setting another character. In this book the Artic is a major character and the history of Artic exploration is a minor character. I can't remember another book where the setting is so important.

Normally I don't like mysteries because the book starts with an inciting incident, wanders around for 300 pages while the detective gathers clues and red herrings, and closes with a bang. But here I enjoyed w...more

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Apr 05, 2012 Barbarac rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-thriller-spy, around-the-world, canada

I didn't want this book to be over. The little tidbits of history regarding the population of Ellesmere Island were fascinating to me. And then you add a mystery, and some interesting facts about lemmings which I never guessed I'd be interested in, and you have a great story. Initially I had a hard time with the book (the audio version), for some reason the voice of the reader just didn't do it for me, but once my mind got past that, I got to really like Edie, Joe, Derek even Sammy, despite the...more

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Kindle English My...: White Heat by M J McGrath	1	8	08. Februar, 01:06 Uhr

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About M.J. McGrath

Aka Melanie McGrath

I was born in Romford, Essex, the third of four children. My parents, Peter and Margaret, had moved out of East London some time before, looking for a quieter, more spacious life. They thought of themselves as upwardly mobile, which they were. We moved a lot during my childhood, first to Basildon in Essex, then to a village in Germany, from there Kent, then north to Lancashire,...more Aka Melanie McGrath

I was born in Romford, Essex, the third of four children. My parents, Peter and Margaret, had moved out of East London some time before, looking for a quieter, more spacious life. They thought of themselves as upwardly mobile, which they were. We moved a lot during my childhood, first to Basildon in Essex, then to a village in Germany, from there Kent, then north to Lancashire, south again to Buckinghamshire and so on. I tried pretty much every kind of school, from German kindergarten through catholic convent to bog standard state grammar. After graduating high school with a mixture of arts and science A-levels, I won a place at Oxford to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics, imagining this combination would give me a grounding in ‘real life.’ Ha! I was soon writing essays on whether I could prove I wasn’t a bat and what might happen to the price of tennis rackets if tennis ball production was moved to Mars.

After graduation, I worked in book publishing, turning to writing at first part-time then full time in my late twenties. Looking back, I wish I’d had the guts to do that when I first came out of university. I always knew I wanted to write but didn’t think that Essex girls who knew how to prove they weren’t bats, and not much else, really stood a chance.
Although I am now a full time writer, I have enjoyed teaching creative writing at Roehampton University in London, at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in the USA and at The Arvon Foundation. After spells living in Las Vegas, Nevada and Nicaragua, I am for the time being settled in London and on the Kent coast.

I have had the extraordinary privilege to be able to travel widely: to Ellesmere Island in the Canadian High Arctic, to Alaska, Iceland, Madagascar, Mali, Namibia, Ethiopia, Gabon, Malaysia, Russia, China, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico and many other places besides. Place occupies a large part in my heart and in my work.

Currently, I am writing fiction, nonfiction and journalism. I have also written and presented for TV and radio.(less)

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Books by M.J. McGrath

The Boy in the Snow (Edie Kiglatuk Mystery, #2)

Edie Kiglatuk's Christmas (Edie Kiglatuk Mystery, #1.5)

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White Heat (Edie Kiglatuk Mystery #1)

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