A Fine and Bitter Snow (Kate Shugak Series #12) by Dana Stabenow

From the Publisher

"Among the Series' Best."--Booklist

Change never comes easy so when the news breaks that the new administration oil might be drilling for oil soon in a wildlife preserve in southeastern Alaska, home to P.I. Kate Shugak, battle lines are quickly drawn across the community. But for Kate, who hasn't been able to get back into her daily life ever since her lover's violent death a few months ago, it's a welcome reprieve from doing nothing.

Tensions run high when Kate's friend and chief park ranger, Dan O'Brien, is deemed "too green" for them by management and asked to take early retirement. Kate rallies the troops to fight for his job, but before she can really start throwing her weight around, a longtime resident is found brutally murdered. Alaska State Trooper Jim Chopin enlists Kate in the investigation, and it isn't long before she discovers that when it comes to the beauty and danger of living and dying in Alaska, nothing is as simple as it seems¿

"The 12th in a series that truly evolves¿rich with details about life in this snowbound culture, the story moves at a steady pace to a classic ending."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Publishers Weekly

This is the 12th in a series (after 2001's The Singing of the Dead) that truly evolves rather than simply revisiting the same setting, although that setting is a doozy: an austere and beautiful Alaskan outback, populated with eccentrics and wild creatures. Kate Shugak could be considered a little of both, having grown up in this hinterland and being fond of her own ways. Kate discovers that park ranger Dan O'Brian is about to lose his job, probably because he is against drilling for oil in the local wildlife preserve. In an effort to garner support for Dan, Kate calls on her late grandmother's dear friends, Ruthe and Dina, who together taught Kate the name of every living thing in the park when she was a child. This longtime couple sits on a big chunk of pristine wilderness and works hard to protect other areas. Meanwhile, Dan has fallen for Christie Turner, the new waitress at the Roadhouse, and state trooper Jim Chopin, a notorious womanizer, is focused on the one woman who won't give him the time of day Kate. She isn't ready for a new relationship, as she is still mourning her dead lover, Jack Morgan, and trying to provide a stable environment for his teenage son, Johnny. When Dina is killed and Ruthe is put on the critical list at the hospital, Kate scrambles to solve the crime while keeping a balance in the rest of her life. Along the way, she finds herself in a brief but torrid encounter with Jim. Rich with details about life in this snowbound culture, the story moves at a steady pace to a classic ending. (June 17) Forecast: A five-city author tour will help build on the momentum of last year's well-received The Singing of the Dead, though generic jacket art doesn't signal that the author transcends the "regional" category. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

The well-known Alaskan P.I. finds herself in the middle of a volatile situation involving proposed drilling for oil in a wildlife preserve. A ranger there is fired for political reasons, and then an important conservationist is poisoned. Be sure to have this on hand. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Kate Shugak's 12th adventure (The Singing of the Dead, 2001, etc.) begins with a threat against the Park, the beloved wilderness she shares with Stabenow's other regulars. Chief Ranger Dan O'Brian is being encouraged to retire by an administration that sees Alaska as acres of oilfields covered by so much snow. When Kate mobilizes her network to protect O'Brian, she discovers that not everyone agrees with his environmental policies. Some members of the Native Association badly want more jobs, and miners and big-game hunting guides like John Letourneau would welcome a, well, less tightly regulated business environment. In due course, Kate calls on friends of her grandmother, Dina Willner and Ruthe Bauman, still in old age adventurous souls and outspoken environmentalists who are happy to speak up for Ranger O'Brian. But before they can, Dandy Mike walks into their cabin to find Dina stabbed to death, Ruthe mortally wounded, and Dan O'Brian, bloody and confused, behind the door. Even though Dan refuses to tell all he knows, Trooper Jim Chopin clears him and arrests a homeless veteran clutching the murder weapon and muttering about angels. Then John Letourneau, Dina and Ruthe's neighbor and business rival, types out a confession and shoots himself. Have Kate and Jim, distracted by their explosive mutual attraction, missed something? Stabenow enjoys tantalizing her fans with Jim and Kate's romance, but her pleasure in her beloved creations can be self-indulgent. When she finally gets around to the serious business of murder, it's satisfying but anticlimactic.

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