Not the ones dead

Alaskan private investigator Kate Shugak returns in the twenty-third novel in Stabenow's popular, award-winning series. Two aircraft collide in midair; there are several fatalities, among them a man who appears to have died before the planes collided. His death has the earmarks of an assassination. But who is the victim, and why was he killed? Kate follows the trail of clues somewhere she isn't expecting it to lead and uncovers secrets whose revelations could put her own life and the lives of the people around her in grave jeopardy. With the Shugak books, readers come for the mystery and stay for the fine writing; with richly developed characters and evocative descriptions of the landscape, they're a joy to read. Kate continues to be a captivating series lead, a woman whose mixture of toughness and vulnerability makes her feel very much like a real person. Series fans will devour the book, and newcomers will wonder why they've waited so long to take this trip to Alaska.

Stabenow's satisfying 23rd Kate Shugak mystery (after 2020's No Fixed Line) once again pits criminal forces against Shugak's tight-knit Alaskan community. After nine people die in a plane crash, PI Kate and her partner, former state trooper Jim Chopin, investigate reports of drones flying near the crash site. When a journalist gets tipped to the presence of a 10th, unidentified, body, a tangled web of criminality and competing law enforcement interests emerges. Anchorage-based FBI agent James G. Mason shows up, revealing to the local detectives that a group of white supremacists has been operating in town. More digging reveals that another federal agency has been monitoring the group, and that Mason, hoping to avoid a violent showdown, had an agent keeping tabs on the sinister new arrivals. Before long, Kate taps into her rich network of sources and figures out that the unclaimed body is part of a government coverup that won't allow for an easy resolution. The busy but sturdy plot moves swiftly, and readers new to the series could pick up this entry without missing a beat. It's a fine addition to the Shugak canon. (Apr.)