December 24, 2012
An affectionate nod to Romeo and Juliet, Stabenow’s absorbing 20th Kate Shugak novel (after 2012’s Restless in the Grave) focuses on two feuding villages in the 20 million acre Alaskan national park that Kate calls home. Kushtaka, founded by the Athabascan Mack family, is in decline, losing population and clinging to a subsistence lifestyle. Trappers led by the Norwegian Christianson family founded nearby Kuskulana, which has thrived with an airstrip, a growing population, and federal funds. When the body of Kushtakan Tyler Mack surfaces in a river, Sgt. Jim Chopin, a state trooper, thinks it’s likely a homicide; when a second body, of a Kuskulaner, turns up, Chopin is sure more violence will follow. The secretive romance between Kushtakan Jennifer Mack and Kuskulaner Ryan Christianson might turn the feud into a war. Meanwhile, Kate has a plan to save the couple. Edgar-winner Stabenow’s take on Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers ends in a tragedy likely to shock series fans. Author tour. Agent: Danny Baror, Baror International.