A Deeper Sleep by Dana Stabenow

Fine Print: When someone heard I was moving to Alaska, she quickly grabbed a scrap piece of paper and wrote down Dana Stabenow's name. "You have to read her books," she said. I'm generally not a fan of genre mysteries (Ladies Number One Detective Agency series an exception) so it took me a while to pick up a book of hers. Below is a review I wrote for the Anchorage Daily News. Somewhat Spoiler Alert.

Book I'm reading now: "Hunger Pangs" by Cinthia Ritchie (in manuscript form, her agent is currently shopping it around to publishers.)

Dana Stabenow’s latest Kate Shugak novel raises questions about small town ethics and justice. Though “A Deeper Sleep” starts with a murder, the book is not about finding who done it. Within a few pages, we learn about the man most believe is responsible for the killing – and several other deaths that are described in vignettes which contain the book’s best writing.

A jury finds the supposed murderer, Louis Deem, not guilty, and former assistant to the Anchorage district attorney Shugak and her love interest state trooper Jim Chopin believe Deem has again gotten away with murder. Stabenow never clarifies who killed the women, though Deem, who was dating and beating them, is the most likely candidate and an all around bad guy. The next couple of murders in the book are also unsolved until the end when the apparent truth varies from what most characters believe, and justice is not traditionally served. The unresolved ending sets up the 16^th book in the series but leaves the reader unsettled.

Plot and catching up new readers to the series create clunky introductions of characters and pat dialogue, as if Stabenow has to present the familiar faces fans expect as opposed to the people living the story.

We learn Shugak is tough and everyone is scared of her because Stabenow tells us so from Chopin’s perspective. But other than a couple planted scenes, we don’t see her as someone to be afraid of. She is stubborn, opinionated and not shy about taking control, but that’s not scary.

I’m not sure why Shugak doesn’t want to follow her late grandmother’s wishes and footsteps to be a leader in the tribal council. By all accounts, she already is a role model and just needs to hop aboard the council seat, but for whatever reason, she doesn’t. It might just be a stubborn kick she has or she has some genuine concerns. The absence of her reasons grates.

A favorite character and element that emerges is Auntie Vi and her cohorts known collectively as the aunties. They bring out the best in Shugak and don’t let Stabenow play too many author tricks with them. Still, they have flaws and can make mistakes, but their errors only make them more real and believable.

Despite the characterization imperfections and some awkward moments, I wanted to know what would happen. I read the book in three sittings in one day, pushing aside other obligations and delaying dinner. Stabenow knows how to keep the pace of the book moving forward and the reader wanting more.

One of the series’ and book’s strengths is the glimpse of Alaska life. The courtroom scene and crime investigation are not slick like on TV but more like the awkward, human and seemingly incomplete ones we read about in the newspaper. The frigid area known as the Park and the small towns of Niniltna and Ahtna are populated with Pilgrim-family look-alikes, effects of FAS, domestic violence, the tribal system, people grateful for flush toilets and aunties that can host a great potlatch.