Rating: 
Summary: Shugak is Back
Review: This is the 11th outing for Kate Shugak, former Anchorage police officer and now private investigator in the Park in the Alaskan bush. The series took an unexpected turn in book 9, and with the last two entries, author Dana Stabenow has kept us on edge wondering if Shugak would survive.In this book, Shugak returns to her homestead in the Park for the first time in months. She is promptly offered a job as a political candidate's protection after the candidate, a Native Alaskan, begins receiving threatening letters. Shugak, like most police officers, believes that the writer of the letters will go no further than the written word. But when one of the candidate's staff turns up dead, Shugak is forced to reevaluate her position. From that point, the book goes into high gear! The characters, especially the ones we've grown to know over the years, are well-drawn and continue to grow and change. Stabenow gives us some history of Alaska, this time involving a prostitute of the Klondike era. She keeps you guessing about who did the foul deed although she is such a skillful writer that you find yourself hoping it's one of the campaign staff whom you come to love to hate. Stabenow's writing remains outstanding so much so that you can feel autumn slipping away with each turn of the page - in the back of your head you'll begin to wonder where you can lay your hands on a sweater - even if you're in 90 degree weather.
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