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16th out of 233 books
—
306 voters
A Cold Day For Murder (Kate Shugak #1)
by
Dana Stabenow (Goodreads Author)
Kate Shugak returns to her roots in the far Alaskan north, after leaving the Anchorage D.A.'s office. Her deductive powers are definitely needed when a ranger disappears. Looking for clues among the Aleutian pipeliners, she begins to realize the fine line between lies and loyalties--between justice served and cold murder.
Paperback, 199 pages
Published
June 1st 1992
by Berkley
(first published 1992)
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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,...more
1.Plot – Kate Shugak left the DA’s office over a year ago after a bust went bad. She’d gone to the home of a child abuser and come out with her throat slashed, leaving the man’s body gutted on the floor behind her. She’d resigned from the D.A.’s stable of investigators by pinning her letter to the door with the knife she’d used to take out the bad man.
For fourteen month’s she stays away from town, living in the rugged Alaska wilderness. She makes do by leading tours every now and then and pick...more
For fourteen month’s she stays away from town, living in the rugged Alaska wilderness. She makes do by leading tours every now and then and pick...more
5 likes · like · see review
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Apr 28, 2008
rabbitprincess
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those who like VERY light mysteries
Recommended to rabbitprincess by:
English prof
This novel introduces Detective Kate Shugak, a petite, scrappy Aleut woman who lives in a fictional national park in Alaska. A park ranger goes missing, and so does the officer sent to find him. Kate, now working as a private investigator, takes the case, and delves into complicated political issues involving the use of park land for tourist purposes.
I was surprised to learn that this was not actually Stabenow's first novel, because it sure felt like one. The book was much too repetitive; as Kat...more
I was surprised to learn that this was not actually Stabenow's first novel, because it sure felt like one. The book was much too repetitive; as Kat...more
(Kindle Freeby) Having visited Iceland and Spitzbergen (Inner Artic Circle) I thought I would like a story line located in those cold dark bleak northenly climes. Dana cleverly and gently introduces you to the climate and the inhospitable terrain. Lots of words and phrases peculiar to Alaska used helps immerse you deep into the story. The kindle installed American dictionary helps but have had to google a bit. I definitely love her steady trundling, informative, constant descriptive style. Only...more
A rookie federal Park Ranger/son-of-a-congressman, and an investigator sent to find him, go missing in the cold expanse of Kate Shugak's Alaskan Park (occupying "twenty million acres, almost four times the size of Denali National Park but with less than one percent of the tourists.") Reluctantly, Kate, a former D.A's investigator herself until a run-in with a child molester left him dead and her soured her on the job and a major portion of "civilization," is on the case.
This is the first of Dan...more
This is the first of Dan...more
One reviewer mentioned becoming lost in the relationships and characters in the first two thirds of the book. As a reader who has traveled throughout rural Alaska, I became lost and thoroughly exasperated by the imagined geography. I stopped reading 29% in for this reason.
The author has taken real place names and descriptions located throughout a state larger than Texas and melded them into a single setting. It made as much sense as describing a view of the Gulf coast from one's home in Shrevep...more
The author has taken real place names and descriptions located throughout a state larger than Texas and melded them into a single setting. It made as much sense as describing a view of the Gulf coast from one's home in Shrevep...more
Kate Shugak is an Alaskan Aleut living in an arctic national park, a former investigator for the Alaska District Attorney, and now something of a freelancer. To paraphrase the nonfictional Kate who pointed me in the direction of these books, Kate Shugak is wounded and intense and competent, unimpressed with anyone’s self-importance, hard to drag away from her cabin and her kitchen and her half-wolf half-deaf companion, Mutt. And she also solves crime.
Oh, lovely. These tiny novels evoke Alaska wi...more
Oh, lovely. These tiny novels evoke Alaska wi...more
Cold day for a murder introduces us to Alaska and Kate Shugak. Kate is a slim scrappy Aleut ,formerly having worked for the D.A. 's office. After a run in with a a child abuser who left the perpetrator dead and Kate with a scar across her neck which is still healing. Kate retreats to the Park to heal and deal with her nightmares but it is interrupted by Jack Morgan her former boss.
A young park ranger who's father is a U.S. Senator has gone missing. His father calls in the F.B.I. who calls Jack w...more
A young park ranger who's father is a U.S. Senator has gone missing. His father calls in the F.B.I. who calls Jack w...more
I purchased this because I was feeling rather jaded by the run of the mill female detective / mystery type novels that seem to be all very much the same.
Kate Shugak is a former investigator with the DA's office who has returned to the outskkirts of her native homeland of Alaska to heal her wounds and her soul after a traumatic incident that is only mentioned in passing - I hope in future stories we will find out more of her previous life as it has molded her into the woman she is today.
Without g...more
Kate Shugak is a former investigator with the DA's office who has returned to the outskkirts of her native homeland of Alaska to heal her wounds and her soul after a traumatic incident that is only mentioned in passing - I hope in future stories we will find out more of her previous life as it has molded her into the woman she is today.
Without g...more
I listened to this book on Audible whilst working out. It was the wrong kind of book for that purpose. The book is densely atmospheric and well-written. I had to listen to several chapters twice just to make certain that I was picking up everything.
If you listen to books on tape and give them your full focus, I would recommend this. If you read in "hard-copy" or on an e-reader, I also recommend it. It demands some concentration and close attention.
I will be reading the next in the series but I w...more
If you listen to books on tape and give them your full focus, I would recommend this. If you read in "hard-copy" or on an e-reader, I also recommend it. It demands some concentration and close attention.
I will be reading the next in the series but I w...more
Dec 03, 2012
Stacielynn
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mysteries,
trashy-indulgences
This is the first book in a mystery series by an author new to me. I like that it is set in the middle-of-nowhere in Alaska. That satisfies my need to visit new places and explore new cultures. The story itself is fairly typical -- no new ground being broken here, but it does hold my interest. She works a little too hard at cramming information and details into the story, (not sure I need to know quite so much about a snow machine) so the plot and characters are often lost in the prose. But that...more
I don't know if I've read a story (deemed as fiction, not sci-fi) as rich in setting and descriptive content as A Cold Day for Murder. I entered the Alaskan frontier without any reservation and enjoyed the breathtaking scenery. I felt I was a witness to everything that was going on - the fighting, the drinking, even the search for two missing men.
I could literally hear the snow crunch beneath my feet. I could feel the heaviness of the snowsuit and boots I wore, not to mention the crispness of th...more
I could literally hear the snow crunch beneath my feet. I could feel the heaviness of the snowsuit and boots I wore, not to mention the crispness of th...more
I started this book last night and finished it when I got home this morning. One would think that meant I thought it was really great but, alas, no. I wanted to get it done so I could start something else and I was almost there so finished it up before I went to bed.
The story is about Kate, a native of Alaska, who finds discord within the "Outsiders" and her own people. She feels she doesn't belong to either world which makes her a recluse who lives in a cabin miles from anyone. She left the DA'...more
The story is about Kate, a native of Alaska, who finds discord within the "Outsiders" and her own people. She feels she doesn't belong to either world which makes her a recluse who lives in a cabin miles from anyone. She left the DA'...more
Detective Kate Shugak is an ex-investigator for the Anchorage DA. Her retirement came after getting her throat cut while trying to apprehend a child abuser. Now she lives on a homestead just inside the park, reads, listens to music, makes bread and keeps company with her dog, Mutt. Kate has pretty much isolated herself from most of the world living on this property she inherited from her father, especially her old boss, Jack Morgan, who may have been a little closer than just that.
But Jack and...more
But Jack and...more
This is the first book in the Kate Shugak Series. It is fast paced and keeps your attention wanting to know what will happen next.
Kate was a female detective working for the Anchorage District Attorney's Office until fourteen months ago when she was almost killed trying to apprehend a child abuser. All she hears in her head now are the sreams of the children she tried to save. Not handling it anymore she left her job after that to hide out in the Park, 20 million acres of wilderness in Alaska....more
Kate was a female detective working for the Anchorage District Attorney's Office until fourteen months ago when she was almost killed trying to apprehend a child abuser. All she hears in her head now are the sreams of the children she tried to save. Not handling it anymore she left her job after that to hide out in the Park, 20 million acres of wilderness in Alaska....more
First in the Kate Shugak series.
Set in a National park in the Arcticwilderness area of Alaska near Anchorage, this series features a Native female protagonist, Kate Shugak, who, prior to the series opening was an investigator with the District Attorney’s office in Anchorage. A horrific encounter with a child abuser left Kate both physically damaged--her throat was cut from ear to ear, damaging her vocal cords--and emotionally scarred. She resigned from the D.A.s office and returned to her homest...more
Set in a National park in the Arcticwilderness area of Alaska near Anchorage, this series features a Native female protagonist, Kate Shugak, who, prior to the series opening was an investigator with the District Attorney’s office in Anchorage. A horrific encounter with a child abuser left Kate both physically damaged--her throat was cut from ear to ear, damaging her vocal cords--and emotionally scarred. She resigned from the D.A.s office and returned to her homest...more
Having won a copy of Though Not Dead through the Goodreads First Reads program (and loved it), I decided to go back to the beginning and allow myself to be introduced to Kate Shugak good and proper. What can I say? I am in love with Dana Stabenow and her creation, Kate Shugak.
Kate is an Alaskan native in every sense of the word. She can trace her Aleutian roots deep into the Alaskan soil and ice. She is living in a homestead cabin in the Park, away from civilization, with only her half-wolf/hal...more
Kate is an Alaskan native in every sense of the word. She can trace her Aleutian roots deep into the Alaskan soil and ice. She is living in a homestead cabin in the Park, away from civilization, with only her half-wolf/hal...more
Apr 10, 2011
Kitty
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kindle,
adrenaline-rush
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...more
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...more
I'm a big Dana Stabenow fan from way back, and was delighted to find this, her very first Kate Shugak novel. Kate's a tough, fearless native Alaskan detective. We meet her in her remote mountain cabin, alone except for her wolf-dog companion. She left the Anchorage prosecutor's office after a near-death experience nailing a child molester. She has no desire to return to that job or to any form of civilization, but her old boss (and lover) talks her into a free-lance assignment: finding a missing...more
Where to start, well my first thought was that this was a short novel at around 200 pages. That said it was reasonably well written and the characters were well described and built up nicely as were the descriptions of the scenery and area. Unfortunately that alone doesn't make a great book and that is what let this one down a little. The story is of the disappearance of two people in an Alaskan Park, the park ranger and the man sent to find him. The writer though never really got into this is a...more
The First in a series of novels featuring the Inuit Female Detective Kate Shugak, this reads more like a Western than a Detective Fiction Novel. There is little in the way of ratiocinative skills, and even less in terms of actual sleuthing. Instead, however, we have vivid descriptions of wild landscapes and of the pioneer/native frontier lifestyle. Themes of frontier versus Civilization are traditional to the Western genre, but the negotiation of boundaries - both culturally and physically - is...more
A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow is about a woman, Kate Shugak who goes to un-know parts in Alaska and investigates the murder of two people. The reason why she is going is because she is from those un-known parts of Alaska. Now she must go back and investigate the murders and people missing.
In society some people leave their own society and go to other societies to learn and forget about their past. Then, even fewer people, return to their old life to complete an act and feel alienated...more
In society some people leave their own society and go to other societies to learn and forget about their past. Then, even fewer people, return to their old life to complete an act and feel alienated...more
A Federal Park Ranger is missing and a Investigator sent to find him goes missing also. The Anchorage District Office turns to a former investigator Kate Shugak to search for them. The mark of good mystery keeps the reader guessing to the end. I never felt that happen in this book. There was no flow to the book and it was hard to track it diffently was not a page turner. It is full of endless description. Mysteries should start fast, grab the reader and never let go. The writing was good but the...more
I bought the first 3 novels in this series to try a new author. I have enjoyed this first one but was quite surprised to find it really was only 187 pages! The rest of the book is made up of authors afterword and 22 pages of the next novel.
Needless to say I whizzed through it in virtually one sitting.
Kate Shugak is related to half of the settlement in Alaska where the story is set, and she seems to have slept with the other half...Nearly everybody who is male in the tale, and is not a blood rela...more
Needless to say I whizzed through it in virtually one sitting.
Kate Shugak is related to half of the settlement in Alaska where the story is set, and she seems to have slept with the other half...Nearly everybody who is male in the tale, and is not a blood rela...more
At 199 pages this is a short, but enjoyable mystery read. I liked the different perspective it gave of life in Alaska.The female investigator, Kate, is an Aleut Indian and former investigator for the Anchorage District Attorney's office, who called it quits after being brutally injured, a cut throat, and retired to the Alaskan wilderness. She's pulled out of her isolation when a park ranger and then an investigator go missing in the middle of winter. What's nice about this story is it's multifac...more
A page turner with the plot and characters opening up at a good pace. Setting it in Alaska appealed to me and I thought the author managed to convey the different attitudes of the inhabitants, touching on the never ending debate of conservation versus progress. I like the heroine, Kate. She has a history that is sketched lightly to tweak this reader's curiosity. The story is basically character driven and the mystery was solved through the Kate's knowledge of the park and the people living in it...more
This free ebook is an original setting for a murder mystery, the Alaskan wilderness, but the story itself and the writing are only so-so. There was too much description of the surroundings, and the author seems to be trying too hard to pepper her prose with local jargon, which ended up being an incomprehensible distraction rather than colourful.
The first two thirds of the book consist of the protagonist, Kate, chasing round after her vast and tangled array of family, friends and ex-lovers to int...more
The first two thirds of the book consist of the protagonist, Kate, chasing round after her vast and tangled array of family, friends and ex-lovers to int...more
strong female character, mystery, Alaska wilderness.. this is pretty much the main things I look for when browsing fiction and this is the first time it's come across all in one place! I looked into it after Charlaine Harris named dropped it in or Southern Vampire Series finale novel. It was free on kindle with good ratings, I dove in.
Sometimes I rolled my eyes at the repetition, but for the first book in a series, that can happen till it finds its groove. There was also not a lot of descriptio...more
Sometimes I rolled my eyes at the repetition, but for the first book in a series, that can happen till it finds its groove. There was also not a lot of descriptio...more
Sep 22, 2011
Kate
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
an enemy
Recommended to Kate by:
Laurie R. King
Shelves:
better-borrowed,
not-recommended
Waste of my life. I had to check the publication date, this book felt so 70's in it's writing style. This series was recommended by a mystery writer that I love, so I was anxious to try it out. Hated it. I hated the barely one-dimensional characters (the big man), I hated the poorly described landscape (cold), I hated the idiotic plot (ranger is missing for 4 weeks before they send someone looking for him, and then wait 2 more weeks after that guy goes missing to start thinking about looking for...more
This was one of the (many) books I brought back with me from my trip to Arizona earlier in the year, the first book in a series that looked interesting.
Kate Shugak, former investigator for the Alaska DA's office, has returned to where she grew up and isolated herself in the wilderness after an encounter with a child molester led to her being savagely attacked. She's scarred by that encounter in more ways than one, but when a park ranger and then a fellow investigator go missing in the massive na...more
Kate Shugak, former investigator for the Alaska DA's office, has returned to where she grew up and isolated herself in the wilderness after an encounter with a child molester led to her being savagely attacked. She's scarred by that encounter in more ways than one, but when a park ranger and then a fellow investigator go missing in the massive na...more
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Danamaniacs: A Cold Day for Murder *SPOILERS* | 1 | 4 | May 08, 2013 08:14pm |
Dana 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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“That's some f***ing doorman you've got there, Ms. Shugak.”
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