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22nd out of 187 books
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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.
Mass Market Paperbound, 199 pages
Published
June 1st 1992
by Berkley
(first published 1992)
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Hugh The Curmudgeon
rated it
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 n...more
For fourteen month’s she stays away from town, living in the rugged Alaska wilderness. She makes do by leading tours every n...more
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Bunxena
rated it
Recommends it for:
those who like VERY light mysteries
Recommended to Bunxena 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 repeti...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 repeti...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 evo...more
Oh, lovely. These tiny novels evo...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...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...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...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...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 he...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 he...more
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 li...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 li...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 i...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-l...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-l...more
Kate
rated it
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 th...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 th...more
This is the first of a series of eighteen (so far) books set in the edge of the Alaskan wilderness. I enjoyed learning more about a place that I know so little about but that fascinates me. There are two people missing and Kate Shugak native to the Park is called in by the FBI to figure out what is going on.
It is apparent that this is the 1st of the series. There is a large amount of set up and background given to the characters. I am interested in seeing how the rest of the serie...more
It is apparent that this is the 1st of the series. There is a large amount of set up and background given to the characters. I am interested in seeing how the rest of the serie...more
Novel introduces Kate Shugak, Alaskan native, who has moved back to her family's homestead in the wilderness after some trauma as an investigator. She is called in to find two missing men (one a park ranger with connections and the other an investigator and kate's sometimes lover) because she knows the park and the people where these two disappeared.
We find out more about Kate's job, the eccentrics in the park, and the more rural way of life as Kate delves deeper into the disappearances. Plus...more
We find out more about Kate's job, the eccentrics in the park, and the more rural way of life as Kate delves deeper into the disappearances. Plus...more
This has a 3.5 stars from me, but Goodreads only allows full stars. I can tell I'm going to like this series. Even though this first one didn't stand out as having huge literary merit, it brought images of the Alaskan wilderness alive, and the people in the book seemed very real. Kate Shugak, the series heroine, is hiding herself away at an Alaskan homestead after a very serious injury. She is asked to help find a missing park ranger and the man sent to find him, and what she uncovers is hard on...more
Found this book by accident,read a sample on my Nook, liked it, saw it cost $.99 so I bought and read it.
My only previous experience with Native American detective fiction has been the Tony Hillerman novels but in those books, I felt the culture of the Navajos was more as a backdrop and had no real influence on the crimes committed. It was just a nice idea to use for a story setting and characters-and I enjoyed all of them.
In Ms Stabnow's/Kate Shugak's world, we get a look at the dark ...more
My only previous experience with Native American detective fiction has been the Tony Hillerman novels but in those books, I felt the culture of the Navajos was more as a backdrop and had no real influence on the crimes committed. It was just a nice idea to use for a story setting and characters-and I enjoyed all of them.
In Ms Stabnow's/Kate Shugak's world, we get a look at the dark ...more
As I was reading this first in a long series of novels about Kate Shugak, I kept getting the feeling that I was missing out on what she did and what happened to her prior to the beginning of this story. I imagine that each book in the series fills in more pieces of her background and reveals more and more about native life in Alaska. She is an Aleut living on her own after retiring from police work until she is asked to find two missing persons in an isolated area she grew up in. The first ha...more
There are very few authors whose hardcovers I buy on release day. Dana Stabenow is one of the few. A Cold Day For Murder is the book that started my spending spree. It is spare and a little bleak, not unlike the Alaskan landscape that Stabenow so aptly describes. On page 105 of the new hardcover edition, there's a sentence that starts out with the words "Fourteen months of suffering dark dreams in the dead of night..." and goes on for about 130 or so more words of positively Joycean le...more
I'm afraid that I've been reading the Kate Shugak series out of order and over a couple of years. I had at first read only the books I could get on audio because hard copies were not available to me. Now I can download others as ebooks. Goody, goody! This is the first book in the series, but it does not feel like a first book. There is very little of the usual background information; instead, the reader is just propelled into the story of Kate's life somewhere in the middle and left to dedu...more
I'd heard such good things about this series, but have to say I was disappointed with the first installment. I usually can keep up with intricate plots and lots of characters, but I was overwhelmed with all the characters introduced in this novel. I had to flip back several times to recall who someone was and how they fit in the story. And speaking of the story, there wasn't much to it. Kate Shugak goes and talks to a few poeple and figures it all out 'just like that.'
I really ...more
I really ...more
Alaska… natives versus Outsiders… and those straddling both, internally & externally… politics as the state struggles to find balance…
Kate, granddaughter of a woman of the native faction – and strongly so… trying hard to hold onto the past and to get all in her circle of influence (family, friends, town, state legislature, etc) to preserve the past… after parents died, Kate, instead of living with her grandmother in the wild aka the Park compromised and stayed with Abel, who lived c...more
Kate, granddaughter of a woman of the native faction – and strongly so… trying hard to hold onto the past and to get all in her circle of influence (family, friends, town, state legislature, etc) to preserve the past… after parents died, Kate, instead of living with her grandmother in the wild aka the Park compromised and stayed with Abel, who lived c...more
I love starting a new series, especially one with lots of entries. Kate Shugak is a native Aleutian who has worked Outside as a hotshot D.A. investigator. She was nearly killed in an investigation and has returned to the Alaskan wilderness. Her former boss (and lover) has asked her to investigate the disappearance of a park ranger and another investigator which she reluctantly agrees to do.
This was a compelling read. Dana Stabenow made me feel the cold and wildness of the envir...more
This was a compelling read. Dana Stabenow made me feel the cold and wildness of the envir...more
I have been a fan of Dana Stabenow for many years. This book is #1 of the Kate Shugak series. Kate is an Alaskan native, an Aleut, who lives by herself very competently on her well-organized and efficient homestead in The Park. But the FBI needs her to find two missing men, so she has to leave the comfort of home and go out among her friends and cousins to investigate.
These stories always give you a feel for the State of Alaska, its beauty and grandeur, its people and animals, a...more
These stories always give you a feel for the State of Alaska, its beauty and grandeur, its people and animals, a...more
One of my ex-girlfriends lived in Alaska for a while. Having read this (which is set in Alaska), I have no idea why anyone would want to. (This has no bearing on anything, really; just thought I'd throw it out there.)
Anyway. Kate Shugak is a former investigator in Anchorage who now lives in the middle of nowhere. An old friend comes and recruits her investigative skills because two people have disappeared. The first is a park ranger and the second is someone hired to find the pa...more
Anyway. Kate Shugak is a former investigator in Anchorage who now lives in the middle of nowhere. An old friend comes and recruits her investigative skills because two people have disappeared. The first is a park ranger and the second is someone hired to find the pa...more
Set in the wilds of Alaska, Kate, an Aleut, who used to be an investigator for the Anchorage DA, is asked to look into the disappearance of a park ranger and another man sent in to find him. For the first book in a series the back story is well developed and gives the reader insight into Kate's personality and motivation. Character development, backstory, and descriptions of the beautiful setting are all worked into the plot so that you never feel like the author is taking away from the forward ...more
Atmospheric, intriguing, and very cold. A Cold Day for Murder is set in Alaska in the depths of winter, and you can almost feel the freezing air and hard-packed ice. The story, the first in the Kate Shugak mysteries, deals with a traumatized former investigator pulled out of seclusion in the Alaskan wilderness to find out what happened to a young park ranger who has disappeared, and the agent who was sent out after him.
The writing is spare and evocative, bringing a little-known part...more
The writing is spare and evocative, bringing a little-known part...more
This is not the Alaska we usually read about. It's deeper, wilder, more remote.
The best thing I can say about this book, which is the first in a series, is that I want to read more. I liked the main character because she's not stereotypical anything. She's deep. She doesn't babble. She's damaged--but she knows it and works with it, rather than trying to fix it. As for the mystery aspect--didn't see the ending coming, although when I reviewed all the clues afterward, they were all there...more
The best thing I can say about this book, which is the first in a series, is that I want to read more. I liked the main character because she's not stereotypical anything. She's deep. She doesn't babble. She's damaged--but she knows it and works with it, rather than trying to fix it. As for the mystery aspect--didn't see the ending coming, although when I reviewed all the clues afterward, they were all there...more
What worked: I really loved the Alaskan point of view - I'd never read anything quite like it. This book, number 1 in Stabenow's Kate Shugak series, predates Palin's splash onto the national stage. For everyone who has wanted more info about people's mindsets in Alaska, however, A Cold Day for Murder offers an interesting glimpse.
What probably gets better later in Stabenow's series: The plot of this whodunit was a bit too obscure. There weren't quite enough clues to allow me t...more
What probably gets better later in Stabenow's series: The plot of this whodunit was a bit too obscure. There weren't quite enough clues to allow me t...more
This book (actually, the series) was referred to me by the same co-worker who recommended Michael Connelly, who I love! A Cold Day for Murder received great reviews, both from my co-worker and the professional reviewers, but the story left me somewhat...cold. I couldn't connect with the main character (Kate Shugak), which I think is critical for thoroughly enjoying a story. Now that I think about it, I couldn't really get into any of the characters; I'm not sure why. I'm going to read the ne...more
e-book This is the fourth Dana Stabenow book which I have read, and I really liked i t much better than the one before with the terrorist theme. She does a great job of writing about Alaska. Kate Shugak is almost living as a hermit when she is approached to discover the fate of a park ranger missing for six weeks, and the man sent out to find him. Family ties are painful. Kate is recovering from almost being killed herself by a beserk man with a knife who slashed her throat, damaging her vo...more
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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 and found it in writing. Her first science fiction novel, Second Star, sank without a trace, her first crime fiction novel, A Cold Day for Murder, won an Edgar award, her first thriller, Blindfold Game, hit the New York Times bestseller list, and...more
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“That's some f***ing doorman you've got there, Ms. Shugak.”
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