TW/CW for series: murder, abuse, domestic violence, animal abuse, sexual abuse, child abuse.
Reading Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone was the spark to my powder keg. The inferno it produced could only be fed with books that featured that same kind of enigmatic female protagonists. As an ardent fan of Killing Eve, I thought it was the protagonist’s psychopathy in Stone’s book which made Jane so compelling, but reading Maestra by L. S. Hilton showed me how wrong I was on that count. Then began a – largely disastrous – deep dive into Amazon, seeking out women who were first and foremost independent agents: they make choices based on their own internal moral compass and are not swayed by external pressures. Yet, they can be soft and flawed and deeply human. In Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak, I found someone confident, unapologetic and unashamed.
Kate Shugak is an Aleut woman in her early thirties living on an inherited homestead in Alaska on the outskirts of Niniltna, which is itself on the edge of “The Park” – a massive tract of land with nary a tourist to be seen. While Kate was brought up here, she has only spent the last 14 months living alone on her homestead. Prior to her self-imposed exile, she had been a star in the investigative team of the Anchorage DA’s Office. In an altercation which we slowly learn more about during the novel, Kate’s throat is slit from ear to ear. She’s left with a gnarled scar and a voice that sounds “like a dull saw ripping through old cement”. She’s short, strong, lithe, and reserved.
At the start of the book she is dragged back into the world of investigation. Two people, a park ranger and the investigator sent to look for the park ranger, have gone missing and Kate is asked to investigate. She doesn’t say yes, but Jack Morgan, her former boss/lover at the DA’s office, is confident that she’ll accept the case.
Right from the get-go, we are introduced to Kate’s sexual history. She has taken lovers and left them, not in a careless way, but in the same pragmatic, straightforward way that she runs her homestead or hunts for food. Kate’s truest love is probably her half-wolf Mutt, who is the loyal companion that my mother’s sausage dog pretends to be: brave, intelligent and fluffy. There is only one person who seems to actually push Kate’s buttons: her grandmother, Ekaterina, a Machiavellian matriarch who attempts to control Kate’s actions, but has limited success.
Yes, this is a classic murder mystery novel, albeit in a different sort of setting. No, Kate does not find her HEA or even HFN. Yet, why does reading this book give me a sense of warmth and comfort? In Kate, I have found a woman who is wholly comfortable in her skin and marches to the beat of her drum and her drum alone. In a world in which women are subject to control, shame, etc., spending time with Kate feels like a release. It’s liberating living in a world that is not determined, dominated, or delineated by men.
Kate’s world is one that feels a little surreal to me. I’m fascinated by the caches and the snow mobiles and all the other everyday parts of life in that part of Alaska. While the crime/murder mystery genre is a favourite of mine, there are only so many hard-boiled city detectives I can take. Kate’s status as an unconventional heroine and the unique (to me) setting helped make this tightly plotted suspense really work. That said, I have limited knowledge of Alaska and northern Canada, and the First Nations of those territories. Coming from a place of relative ignorance, there might well be issues I misunderstood or missed entirely. If that is the case, please let me know in the comments.
This may seem to be a strange review, as I have only read the first two books in this series. And there are many more: book 21 was released in 2017 with the 22nd book due to be released next year. Each novel focuses on Kate solving a new case. In the two I’ve read so far, Kate seems to be a “freelance” investigator for the Anchorage DA’s Office, so each novel is part procedural, part suspense. While I very much recommend those two if you are also looking for fiercely independent, intelligent heroines, I am unsure about the rest of the series. Of the subplots that focus on Kate, I am particularly curious about the tension between Kate and her grandmother Ekaterina and how that relationship develops. I also fear that the romance subplot develops into a love triangle (a trope I find utterly infuriating).
As a suspense, this book really worked for me. There are enough red herrings and genuine clues to keep it interesting and unpredictable. The identity of the culprit revealed at the end was a shock, but in retrospect, they were the clear villain based on the clues woven through the plot. In short, this book is a perfect water slide – fast and twisty enough to make you laugh-scream, but not so intense that you feel sure you’re about to die on this slide in front of Uncle Pieter, your cousins and half of the Durban beachfront. Add Kate’s unrelenting self-assuredness, and my desire for fierce, uncompromising heroines was more than satisfied. My concern: I’m not all that confident in how the series develops from here.
So while I happily recommend A Cold Day for Murder, and A Fatal Thaw, I am curious about your experiences with this series.
Does Kate remain someone unapologetically independent? Are there other female protagonists out there who – regardless of their romantic status – give a reader that same sense of independent, self-sufficient power?
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The entire series is great. You don’t end up with a love triangle, but I don’t want to spoil that for you. Highly recommended!
Oh yes. To answer your question. Read the whole series except the last two back to back twice.
Words cannot adequately express how much I love this series. Usually I’m at the meh stage in a long running series by now but I am eagerly awaiting book 22 and this is pretty much the only series I will pay hardcover prices for to get the new book on the day of release. In Kate Shugak Dana Stabenow has crafted a real character who grows and changes over the life of the series and who you laugh and cry with along the way. I can’t really say more without spoilers but I can say I have never regretted diving into Kate’s world.
I have so, so wanted to read this series. Enjoyed the first book, but then went down the goodreads rabbit hole and discovered there may be a later book in which Kate is forced into sex with her partner against her will and later convinced herself it couldn’t have been rape because x, y, z. I’ve only read excerpts and would LOVE to be told I’m wrong, but as long as I believe this is part of a later book, I’m going to avoid the series like the plague. I’ve since started Kelley Armstrong’s Casey/Duncan Rockton series, which hasn’t disappointed so far. Strong, badass heroine who murdered the man who screwed her over and almost killed her. Guess that’s more my style these days?
Yet to start the series but agree about Maestra. A big DNF for me! Name dropping and product placement ruined the possibly compelling sociopath story.
Thank you for the comments! I am going to dive into Book 3…
I read the first few books of this series a long time ago and enjoyed them. Time for a re-read!
Stabenow has another series with a male protag named Liam, I think, who is a state trooper.
And you know you’re getting some authentic Alaska atmosphere because Stabenow has lived here forever.
Thanks for reminding me about these books!
I have kept up with both of Dana’s series – can recommend them both without reservation. Wish there were lots more books!
I read these books as they were initially released, waiting impatiently for each book to hit the shelves. There was a book that had a shocking/controversial ending and, combined with a very long hiatus until the next book, made it seem like that was the final book. I’m glad that the series didn’t end on that note, but some of Kate’s subsequent behavior made me uneasy. She’s not just independent, she also withdraws into herself and hurts people who care about her. (This happens in earlier books, as well, to a lesser extent.) Despite some reservations, I’ve mostly enjoyed the series.
I recently revisited the entire series to date in audio. The narrator, Marguerite Gavin, also narrates Tanya Huff’s Torin Kerr books. Since both Shugak and Kerr are strong, independent women, I was afraid they’d basically sound the same, but Gavin did a great job giving each of them a distinctive voice, literally and figuratively.
I need another series on the TBR pile like I need a hole in my head. And yet, The Bitchery has yet to steer me wrong.
GBPL here I come.
I hate you all.
I love this series-although I realize now I’ve only read 19 of them! Kate Shugak is one of my favorite characters ever, I love her toughness and her no nonsense ways. Breakup-the 7th in the series is my favorite. It is a rollercoaster of a ride, describing what happens when the snow starts melting and everyone has cabin fever!
Lara, I really enjoyed your review! I live in Alaska, but in the city-not the Bush. From what I know from living here 28 years, I think Stabenow’s Alaskan details are very true to life. As @Cathy Pegau mentioned, she was born here and as far as I know still lives in Alaska.
Is Stabenow her real name? Because this is some serious nomative determinism going on here.
Stabenow is Alaskan, so her setting is written very authentically. For strong women/mystery series I also recommend Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon series. Barr began her career as a Park Service ranger, so again, she is an author with an authentic voice.
Could one of you that has read the series or some of it at least tell me, what proportion of the murder victims are women? I have got rather fed up of series in which the victims are mostly women so while the series sounds good I am wary, I don’t mind some women victims, but not if it’s most of them. Also does there tend to be one murder per book or multiple murders? Thank you!
Stabenow is indeed her real name, and she is still living in Alaska. As a matter of fact, she is building a women writers’ retreat in Homer called Storyknife: https://storyknife.org/
I’ll second what @CathyPegau said about the Liam Campbell series–I love those too. And she also wrote a couple of straight-up thrillers involving a US Coast Guard cutter in Alaska: Blindfold Game and Prepared for Rage. (Shameless plug: I got to help with research on those.)
If you’re in AZ, you can attend her book release parties at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale. She’s always there when her new books drop.
Oh, I forgot to add that she has recently started writing historical fiction. First, a trilogy about Marco Polo’s granddaughter and her adventures on the Silk Road. And currently, a series set in ancient Egypt.
So lots to choose from, and I can’t imagine she’ll be slowing down anytime soon.
@Susan
I started this series at Midnight Come Again, and didn’t go backwards because I did NOT want to read about Bad Thing.
I love love LOVED the series until Bad Blood, at which point I was really REALLY angry about the end, so I haven’t read anything since, afraid that another book like that would permanently ruin the series for me.
Do I want to read on, or should I just go back to reread the books I have, and pretend Bad Blood never happened?
@Jazzlet-I will strongly say, that most of the murder victims are not women. I totally agree with you-I cannot stand when women are always the victims. I don’t have actual statistics, but I will say the majority of the victims are men. Kate Shugak is one of the strongest protagonists I have ever read. Not only is she is kick ass investigator-but she lives in an environment where she must depend on herself to keep herself fed. I love the scenes where she comes to Anchorage, because that is where I live-but she lives in the Bush and has to deal with all that entails.
I will admit it has been years since I read some of these-I used to read them when they first came out. I met Stabenow in bathroom of Costco-where I fan girled all over her as she was washing her hands! She was beyond gracious, and she is super funny. I saw her a few times after, at book signings.
@Lucy-Dana has been writing for years-and I’m not sure what you mean by your comment. I looked up part of your comment // Because this is some serious nomative determinism going on here.//
Is it the stab e now? No-and I will say-this author is a very authentic person. In Alaska, we wouldn’t think twice about that name, because we have so many outside influences. Russian being one of the most prevalent. I may have taken your comment the wrong way, maybe you were just being funny. In that case I do apologize. I’m will be the first to admit I am a huge fan of Stabenow-not only for her books but because she is so nice and appreciative when you meet her!
There are moments in the Kate Shugak series that make me belly laugh even on repeated rereading, especially the bits that were thrown in specifically for Alaskans. (We all have That One Story We Love to Tell About Tourists. Hers is a doozy.)
Stabenow also writes about loss, bigotry, acculturation, serial killers, injustice, addiction, abuse, entrapment, and grief. Many of her books have long escapist passages, but none of them is entirely escapist, and some may break your heart.
Thank you Maureen, I’ll give her a try 🙂
Maureen – Umm… I’m honestly a bit lost about what way you’ve taken it… I literally just meant that her name has ‘stab’ and ‘now’ in it and the plot involves murder. Just a stupid little pun-related joke. I implied absolutely nothing about her character or authenticity. I’m honestly a bit baffled now, to be honest.
linastew yes and no. There is an instance which looks like that rapey trope, but I think in the context of a complicated relationship which develops over several books, and includes the sexual initiative shifting back and forth between Kate and her partner, it makes sense. And there are unpleasant things in some of the crime story lines which makes me reluctant to reread some of the books. But overall I am very pleased to have met Kate Shugak, give the books a try
@Lucy-I’m really sorry-I think I had my sense of humor turned off the other night. I do apologize.
No problem, Maureen – glad not to have caused offence.
her name has ‘stab’ and ‘now’ in it
Heh. I read it as “stab” + “enow” (archaic spelling of “enough”), which may be even more fitting for a series. But I only reanalyzed it that way after seeing the business about nominative determinism; inititally I read it as something that might have ended in -inoff before running afoul of Germanized spelling.
I started the series but couldn’t get beyond the third or fourth book – It just seemed like there was never any effort on the part of the writer to give Kate some measure of contentment. I couldn’t live with a character that unhappy. Reading synopses for future books sealed that decision.
Seconding the recommendation to read Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series as well if you like strong, morally complex women solving crimes in the wilderness! 🙂 I just finished Book 1 the other day and IMMEDIATELY ordered every other book in the series so far from my library.