Rating: 
Summary: Remember what Glinda said
Review: "It's always best to start at the beginning." That is what Glinda, the "Good Witch" of the North, tells Dorothy as she sets off on her journey from Munchkinland to the Emerald City of Oz. This is also good advice for those embarking upon Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak Alaskan mystery series. I came in mid-stream at the previous book, "Midnight Come Again," and admit to being lost at times. Nonetheless, this book craftily illuminates Alaskan geography, history, sociology, and politics, and at the same time gives the reader a darned good "who-dunnit."
Rating:
Summary: Remember what Glinda said
Review: "It's always best to start at the beginning." That is what Glinda, the "Good Witch" of the North, tells Dorothy as she sets off on her journey from Munchkinland to the Emerald City of Oz. This is also good advice for those embarking upon Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak Alaskan mystery series. I came in mid-stream at the previous book, "Midnight Come Again," and admit to being lost at times. Nonetheless, this book craftily illuminates Alaskan geography, history, sociology, and politics, and at the same time gives the reader a darned good "who-dunnit."
Rating:
Summary: Another good read
Review: Another good weekend spent in Alaska with long-time friends. I just hope that Stabenow never stops writing this wonderful series.
Rating:
Summary: Another good read
Review: Another good weekend spent in Alaska with long-time friends. I just hope that Stabenow never stops writing this wonderful series.
Rating: 
Summary: It's Alaskan, so I'll read it
Review: I was born in Alaska and lived there 23 years. I enjoy these books because it reminds me of home. Some are better than others. I still keep up on Alaska politics via adn.com, but this book didn't really ring very true with me. Hard for me to believe Kate is so darn appealing to every male she meets. Alaska men aren't that desperate for short native heavily scarred women.
The historical parallel story of the "good time girl" of the gold rush area was entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: It's Alaskan, so I'll read it
Review: I was born in Alaska and lived there 23 years. I enjoy these books because it reminds me of home. Some are better than others. I still keep up on Alaska politics via adn.com, but this book didn't really ring very true with me. Hard for me to believe Kate is so darn appealing to every male she meets. Alaska men aren't that desperate for short native heavily scarred women.
The historical parallel story of the "good time girl" of the gold rush area was entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Singing of the Praises
Review: If I could carry a tune...I LOVE Dana Stabenow. I fell upon her (as an author) by accident and have not regretted a book since. I savored Hunter's Moon (Number 9) but felt shaken by the end. I nearly gave up. While I enjoyed the next book, I still hadn't come back to make camp with Kate... I am back with Singing of the Dead. Keep up the good work, Dana!
Rating:
Summary: Singing of the Praises
Review: If I could carry a tune... I LOVE Dana Stabenow. I fell upon her (as an author) by accident and have not regretted a book since. I savored Hunter's Moon (Number 9) but felt shaken by the end. I nearly gave up. While I enjoyed the next book, I still hadn't come back to make camp with Kate... I am back with Singing of the Dead. Keep up the good work, Dana!
Rating:
Summary: Good addition to the series
Review: In the 11th. book of the Kate Shugak series, Dana Stabenow weaves 2 parallel stories into an interesting whole. The story with the current setting tells of Kate's new job as a security guard for Anne Gordaoff, a candidate for state senator from Kate's district. During the course of the campaign, the candidate's future son-in-law is murdered. This brings a new urgency to Kate's job and causes her to align with sometime friend and lover Jim Chopin to solve the case. When another body appears, the campaign workers' concerns deepen. The parallel story is told at the turn of the 20th. century with its central character being a "good time girl" during the Gold Rush days. She earns her living in the only way she knows how and supports her son through hardships and associations with abusive men. Her death has never been solved, but Kate connects it to her current case and discovers both killers at once. This is a good read and gives Stabenow's usual insider's view on Alaska.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic stoytelling
Review: Jack died over a year ago but Kate remains in shock as she still feels the pain of his death as if it happened yesterday. A former police officer and sometimes private detective Kate Shugak, a full-blooded Inuit, harbors her dead lover's teenage white son Johnny. The fourteen-year old young adult refuses to live in the lower forty-eight states or reside with his mother who hates Kate. With another mouth to feed and potential future legal fees, Kate leaves Johnny on the homestead and accepts work as a bodyguard to Anne Gordaoff, a senatorial candidate. Anne has been receiving escalating threats that require her to hire Kate. While Kate protects her client, someone murders The candidate's son-in-law and a staffer leaving it up to Kate to unravel the truth before someone else is hurt. The latest Shugak novel gives readers an early twentieth century Alaskan history lesson and how past events three generations ago relate to the present murders. The mystery is cleverly developed and the sexual tension between Kate and Trooper Jim is so thick the murder weapon cannot slice through it. That "non-relationship" bears future watching as Dana Stabenow continues to provide her audience with tales they enjoy reading. Harriet Klausner
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