A
Grave Denied
A
Kate Shugak Mystery
Dana
Stabenow
St.
Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-30681-4 (0312306814)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-30681-6 (9780312306816)
Publication Date: August 2003
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Everyone knew Len Dreyer, a handyman for hire in the
Park near Niniltna, Alaska, but no one knew anything else about him.
Even Kate Shugak, who was planning to ask him to help build a small
second cabin on her property, knew him. But she, the Park's unofficial
P.I., seems to have known less about him than anyone.
When Len Dreyer's body is discovered, frozen solid, in the path of a
receding glacier with a hole from a shotgun blast in his chest, no one
even noticed that he was missing for months. Alaska State Trooper Jim
Chopin asks Kate to help him dig into Dreyer's background, in the hope
of finding some motive for his murder. She takes the case, mindful of
the need for gainful employment as she copes with her responsibility
for Johnny, the teenage boy in her care and a constant reminder of his
father, her dead lover. Little does she imagine that by trying to
provide for him she just might put him right in the path of danger.
Review:
The exceptional A Grave Denied
is the 13th mystery in Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak mystery series set
in Alaska.
Kate's life has become more complicated with the arrival of Johnny, son
of her dead lover, estranged from his mother, and determined to live in
the Park where he feels he belongs. Kate needs to balance her
professional duties as unofficial investigator for the Park with her
quickly developing parenting skills for Johnny, both of which are
tested when the dead body of a local handyman, known to all for his
work, but virtually unknown as a person, is discovered in a glacier.
Stabenow creates an environment that envelopes and draws the reader
into the Park with Kate. It is with great satisfaction that the reader
and Kate both jump to the same conclusion at the same time, realize the
clues that were there all along but inadvertantly overlooked, and then
suddenly discover that all may not be as it appears.
Johnny's journal entries add a touch of personal realism to the story
and are important elements to the solution of the mystery.
A
Grave Denied is one of the
best mysteries of the year and is highly recommended.
Special thanks to for providing a copy of A Grave Denied for this review.
Review Copyright © 2003 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read A Grave Denied? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
A
Cold Day for Murder
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), June 1992
ISBN-10: 0-425-13301-X (042513301X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-13301-9 (9780425133019)
A
Fatal Thaw
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), January 1993
ISBN-10: 0-425-13577-2 (0425135772)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-13577-8 (9780425135778)
Dead
in the Water
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), July 1993
ISBN-10: 0-425-13749-X (042513749X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-13749-9 (9780425137499)
A
Cold-Blooded Business
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), March 1994
ISBN-10: 0-425-14173-X (042514173X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-14173-1 (9780425141731)
Play
With Fire
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), April 1995
ISBN-10: 0-425-14717-7 (0425147177)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-14717-7 (9780425147177)
Blood
Will Tell
Putnam (Hardcover), May 1996
ISBN-10: 0-399-14124-3 (0399141243)
ISBN-13: 978-0-399-14124-9 (9780399141249)
Breakup
Putnam (Hardcover), June 1997
ISBN-10: 0-399-14250-9 (0399142509)
ISBN-13: 978-0-399-14250-5 (9780399142505)
Killing
Grounds
Putnam (Hardcover), March 1998
ISBN-10: 0-399-14356-4 (0399143564)
ISBN-13: 978-0-399-14356-4 (9780399143564)
Hunter's
Moon
Putnam (Hardcover), May 1999
ISBN-10: 0-399-14468-4 (0399144684)
ISBN-13: 978-0-399-14468-4 (9780399144684)
Midnight
Come Again
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), May 2000
ISBN-10: 0-312-20596-1 (0312205961)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-20596-6 (9780312205966)
The
Singing of the Dead
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), May 2001
ISBN-10: 0-312-20957-6 (0312209576)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-20957-5 (9780312209575)
A
Fine and Bitter Snow
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), June 2002
ISBN-10: 0-312-20548-1 (0312205481)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-20548-5 (9780312205485)
A Grave Denied
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), August 2003
ISBN-10: 0-312-30681-4 (0312306814)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-30681-6 (9780312306816)
A
Taint in the Blood
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), September 2004
ISBN-10: 0-312-30683-0 (0312306830)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-30683-0 (9780312306830)
A
Deeper Sleep
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), January 2007
ISBN-10: 0-312-34322-1 (0312343221)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-34322-4 (9780312343224)
Whisper
to the Blood
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), February 2009
ISBN-10: 0-312-36974-3 (0312369743)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-36974-3 (9780312369743)
Omnimystery
keywords for A Grave Denied
...
Location(s) referenced: Alaska.
