Rating: 
Summary: Good Story For RVer's
Review: A murder takes place in Wyoming. A boy is on the run. Jessie Arnold has agreed to drive a motor home from Idaho to Alaska for the contractor who is building her new cabin. These two worlds collide on the highway and Jessie finds herself smack dab in the middle of trouble. There is less story involving her dogs in this one, although she does have her lead dog, Tank, with her. This story is more about the characters she meets on the road and they are an interesting bunch. There is a lot of scenic description, which Henry always does very well. This is a good story for readers interested in travel. Some of the chase scenes were riveting, but the mystery, itself, fell a little short.
Rating:
Summary: Good Story For RVer's
Review: A murder takes place in Wyoming. A boy is on the run. Jessie Arnold has agreed to drive a motor home from Idaho to Alaska for the contractor who is building her new cabin. These two worlds collide on the highway and Jessie finds herself smack dab in the middle of trouble. There is less story involving her dogs in this one, although she does have her lead dog, Tank, with her. This story is more about the characters she meets on the road and they are an interesting bunch. There is a lot of scenic description, which Henry always does very well. This is a good story for readers interested in travel. Some of the chase scenes were riveting, but the mystery, itself, fell a little short.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: After a couple of earlier books which were not up to Sue Henry's usual standards, she provides a strong entry for the Alaskan Mystery series with her book, Dead North. Jessie is distressed by the destruction of her cabin by fire, as described in the previous book, Beneath the Ashes. While waiting for her cabin to be rebuilt, Jessie is living in a tent which lacks many of the comforts of home. Fortunately a friend has purchased a Winnebago and needs someone to drive it to Alaska for him. Jessie agrees to do so and she departs on what she thinks will be an adventure and a good sight-seeing trip. She meets Maxie, a compatible older woman and they strike up a friendship as they travel north through several RV parks. At the same time, Jessie meets Patrick, a young man with a troubled past who is very secretive about his life yet who appeals to the two women for help. They agree to bring him along with them, but trouble seems to follow them, and they begin to debate the wisdom of taking Patrick under their wing. As usual, this book contains wonderful descriptions of the breath-taking Alaskan and Canadian scenery and some pretty suspenseful chase scenes.
Rating: 
Summary: Sue Henry is back on track
Review: After a couple of earlier books which were not up to Sue Henry's usual standards, she provides a strong entry for the Alaskan Mystery series with her book, Dead North. Jessie is distressed by the destruction of her cabin by fire, as described in the previous book, Beneath the Ashes. While waiting for her cabin to be rebuilt, Jessie is living in a tent which lacks many of the comforts of home. Fortunately a friend has purchased a Winnebago and needs someone to drive it to Alaska for him. Jessie agrees to do so and she departs on what she thinks will be an adventure and a good sight-seeing trip. She meets Maxie, a compatible older woman and they strike up a friendship as they travel north through several RV parks. At the same time, Jessie meets Patrick, a young man with a troubled past who is very secretive about his life yet who appeals to the two women for help. They agree to bring him along with them, but trouble seems to follow them, and they begin to debate the wisdom of taking Patrick under their wing. As usual, this book contains wonderful descriptions of the breath-taking Alaskan and Canadian scenery and some pretty suspenseful chase scenes.
Rating:
Summary: murder bound
Review: As a favor, Jessica ("Jessie") Arnold was asked to pick up a Winnebago in Idaho and drive it back up through Canada. Along with her lead sled dog, Tank. But that is really only setting the scenery for this mystery.Patrick Cutler has to get out of Wyoming as fast as possible-his stepfather, a good ole police officer, killed his mother... and blamed her murder on him. Being a smart kid, he manages to hitch hike his way into Canada, planning to meet up with his best friend in Anchorage, by stealing rides and food to survive. Two of his friends follow him, to try to help out, while his stepfather is close behind. Not to mention Detective Loomis, who seems to have a personal stake in the whole situation. Patrick soon meets up with Jessie and a new friend, Maxie, and Jessie becomes intertwined in his problems. Along with various other friends, Jessie encounters bodies and Patrick's stepfather as she heads towards home... but will she manage to get there in one piece? This was my first Sue Henry mystery. I have a huge interest in Alaska, and when books by this author were suggested, I sprung at the opportunity. The characters are well written and the whole novel is saturated with details-perhaps a bit too much. The history described was exasperating and merely made me skip those paragraphs. Beyond that, I know for a fact that I'll read more by this author.
Rating: 
Summary: Good mystery with good description of the country.
Review: I enjoyed the way Sue Henry made you feel a part of the characters as well a description of the country along the Alaskan highway which added to the sense of beeing there and personnaly involved.
Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: I generally enjoy Sue Henry's books. As with any author, some books will be better and others not quite so good, but still enjoyable. I started the book hoping for another good read, but about a quarter of the way thru, I put it down and never picked it up again except to toss it. Why? It just didn't have a plausible plot, I thought her writing was not as taut and terse as it should be, and frankly, I just plain got bored. It appears to me that she wrote it quickly so she could get another book on the market. Sue, please write as well as I know you can, pay attention to the art, and sales revenues will take care of themselves.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I haven't written a book review before, but Dead North, by Sue Henry, was such a disappointment that I had to share my thoughts with others who might be thinking of buying this book. The first thing that bothered me was the author's style of writing. Ms. Henry tends to write in long sentences filled with parenthetic expressions and series of items. She frequently uses participial phrases at the beginning of a sentence. In other words, there were an excessive number of commas that kept bringing me to a halt while rushing me through long gushes of words. It's a good thing that type is no longer set by hand as the typesetter would have run out of commas long before the book was finished! Here is a random example from page 90: "Restoring her balance with a hand to the wall, Jessie continued down the street and soon discovered a small bookstore, where she was delighted to find a short biography of Edith Cavell, a British nurse who smuggled Allied soldiers out of Belgium to Holland during World War I, was captured and executed by the Germans, and for whom one of the highest of the beautiful local peaks was named." This example illustrates another fault in the book. While most reviewers were very positive when speaking about the background of the Alaskan (and Canadian) countryside, my impression was that she was giving entirely too much detail about things that don't bear on the story. Initially I was looking for how Edith Cavell or World War I or even the peak figured in the story later. I soon learned that these forays into descriptions of the countryside or local history were not significant to the story, but merely tidbits of information that the author found interesting and felt she had to share. If you want to see how similar information is both interesting on its own and integrated into a story, I recommend Nevada Barr. Lastly, the story did not come together well at the end. I don't want to give anything away, so I won't go into detail. Let me just say that, while all the elements of a good mystery were there, they just didn't mesh into a satisfying whole.
Rating:
Summary: One of her best but not the best Alaskan mystery writer
Review: I must say I am stunned by the reviews here on Amazon. I have read all of Sue Henry's mysteries and consider them competent, quick reads but nothing out of the ordinary. I don't in general recommend them to anyone and Henry never springs to mind as a personal favorite mystery writer. I find her writing a bit clumsy, the plotting and description a bit plodding and boring. In fact, the books inspire skimming. Yes, I like the characters. Yes, I love the whole idea of dog sled racing and the Alaskan setting. This makes the series worthwhile, the hook which draws me in. But I find the whole series rather hackneyed, to be honest. The glowing joy I am reading startles me. Yes, by all means read these and enjoy the Alaskan setting and mystery, but this isn't phenomenal mystery writing at its finest by any means. At the same time Dana Stabenow is getting far more lukewarm reviews from readers and I find her infinitely superior in characterization, plotting and style. Stabenow's writing glows and her books are the sort that are hard to put down. They are moving and resonant- evocative and yet full of the bite one wants in a good mystery. They do not read like anyone else's novels, which is more than I can say for Henry. Stabenow has a distinct voice and Henry has a novel setting which is almost a gimmick along the lines of tea shop and cat mysteries. I have read all Henry's mysteries, I will continue to buy and read them. They are decent enough for what they are- quick, light entertainment but not particularly engaging or profound.
Stabenow on the other hand is not only good mystery reading but good writing- someone who can tell a story clearly and beautifully without resorting to the nonsensical, fireworks tricks so much of Modern Literary Fiction has made so common rendering prize winning modern fiction useless as far as enjoyable reading is concerned.
Rating:
Summary: Not her best but enjoyed the description of Alaska Hwy
Review: I recommend Sue Henry's books often. My interest in dog sledding drew me to her novels but I also enjoy her descriptions of Alaska. She does a great job of describing the trip along the Alaskan Highway. My wish to take that very trip was definitely reinforced. But I still rate this book lower than the others I have read. The story was difficult to accept and I found myself disliking Jessie Arnold. I agree with a previous review that she comes across as self centered. But more than any of that, I missed the dogs in this book. I believe Sue Henry writes best when she is telling us about Jessie's love of her dogs and sledding. She portrays Jessie's enthusiasm very well and brings tears to my eyes with descriptions and anecdotes about her dogs. Sue Henry writes for lovers of Alaska, winter and dogs.
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