Though Not Dead

May 30, 2011
Stabenow's latest Kate Shugak novel finds the intrepid Alaskan PI facing a personal tragedy and its unexpected repercussions. Old Sam, Kate's uncle and surrogate father, has died, leaving her heir to and executor of his estate. Kate has no way of knowing that Old Sam's actions will pull her into a life-threatening mystery whose roots hark back to Alaska in the early 20th century and continue to the present day. Marguerite Gavin gives an excellent reading of Stabenow's prose: she keeps the story moving at an energetic clip, which works especially well with the action sequences. With a nice sense of timing, she brings out the laugh-out-loud humor laced through the book, most notably in the scenes between Kate and her "Aunties," and manages to balance the book's extensive cast of characters, shifting points of view, time frames, and passages of Alaskan history with a bright, engaging performance that keeps the listener tuned in from the introduction to the final chapter. A Minotaur hardcover.

Marguerite Gavin's performance will make instant fans of those new to the Kate Shugak series. Gavin gives Alaskan Kate the perfect no-nonsense attitude as she and her half-wolf sidekick, Mutt, butt heads with her newest mystery. After Kate's surrogate father, Old Sam, dies, she finds herself enmeshed in a puzzle beginning in his colorful past, including a missing tribal icon, an unpublished Dashiell Hammett manuscript, and Sam's last cryptic request to her: "Find my father." Gavin's Native accents and characters are dignified and truthful. Pronunciations of names like Suulutaq, Niniltna, and Kanuyaq roll trippingly off her tongue. In this 18th Shugak episode, listeners get substantial chunks of Alaskan history while Kate deals with murder, personal attacks, and unsettling revelations. Gavin turns it all into compelling listening. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

June 1, 2011
This is the 18th mystery in Edgar Award winner Stabenow's (www.stabenow.com) series centering on Alaska PI Kate Shugak, following "A Night Too Dark"(2010), also available from Macmillan Audio and AudioGO. When Kate's uncle and mentor, "Old Sam," is murdered, Kate inherits most of his belongings, including the cryptic request to "find my father." Along with her half-husky, half-wolf companion, Mutt, Kate sets out to uncover her family's secrets. Through flashbacks of Old Sam's life, Stabenow artfully weaves the history of Alaska and its native people into the story. Series narrator Marguerite Gavin does an excellent job of reading this novel. Her clear and articulate voice brings out the characters' diverse personalities, native accents, and speech patterns. For all Kate Shugak fans. ["Sure to be popular with lovers of the series as well as those who enjoy...novels set in Alaska," read the review of the "New York Times"best-selling Minotaur hc, "LJ"12/10.—Ed.]—Ilka Gordon, Siegal Coll. of Judaic Studies Lib., Cleveland

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