Book cover excerpt:
No author on the crime fiction scene brings the beauty, mystery, majesty, and danger of the Alaskan frontier mor vibrantly alive than critically acclaimed award winner Sue Henry. Now she takes us due north once more tothis rugged land that famed "musher" and sometime sleuth Jessie Arnold calls home---a breathtaking world where the summers are brief and winters, like death, are cold and long.
With August drawing to a close, Jessie Arnold is feeling empty. Not even the return of a friend can lessen her disappointment over having to miss the approaching Alaskan dogsled racing season because of her recent knee surger. But a request to help man the Iditarod booth at the Alaska State Fair is a godsend, something that keeps Jessie involved and happy...until a corpse turns up on the fairgrounds.
The murder is an expecially brutal one: a small-time hoodlum dispatched by a double-blade axe blow to the skull. Though she has already seen too much death in her lifetime, Jessie becomes a participant in the proceedings when her beloved lead sled dog, Tank, vanishes. Angry and sick with worry, she sets out to find him and unwittingly discovers connections that link Tank's disappearance to the murder and a recent theft in bizarre and disturbing ways.
Friends new and old are soon involved as well. Musher Lynn Ehlers, the parents of a local boy, and state troopers are plunged into a desperate and harrowing search that leads them across lush forested valleys, up silent, forbidding mountains, and into Alaska's darkest heart. Because, suddenly, a sled dog is not the only missing player in this drama. Under alarming circumstances, Jessie Arnold has also vanished.
Quotes:
p.11
From somewhere close a raven called from high above her head but, though she carefully inspected the treetops, remained a disembodied sound. Three times it broke the stillness of the woods with its ragged croak before taking flight, a soaring black silhouette against the thin cloud cover of the sky. Hearing the raven reminded Jessie that, according to legend, this trickster of the northern world had once had a lovely singing voice and pure white feathers but had lost them both in flames cast by an angry magician from whom it had craftily stolen the sun, moon, and stars. The heat had charred it black and left it with only the scorched croak; one of the many raven tales that always made her smile.
p. 11
For over an hour, the three enjoyed the freedom of the woods. Slowly the overcast cleared and sunshine brightened and warmed the morning with long shafts of light that splashed down through the canopy of the branches. Jessie's mood lifted, and she found herself humming in wordless appreciation of the world around her. It was good sometimes to wander slowly along and notice the many small things that would soon be buried in snow. On a sled, behind a dog team, they all vanished in a blur of speed. Fall was her favorite season, and it was pleasat to have time to enjoy it, even if that gratification was the result of losing her usual training runs.
p. 48
....We learn guilt early, at our mother's knee, so doing what is expected of us is houw we tend to fit into society with the least amount of conflict. But I thought of all the things in my life that I'd done because they were expected of me, and the mental pile of shoulds and ought-tos grew until it was a mountain compared to my want-tos. Should and ought-to was what go t me pigeonholed in that unlockable room in the first place, wasn't it? All at once it seemed insufferable. I'd escaped successfully and made it to the fair. So I decided, for once, to do what I wanted. Therefore I didn't go back."
p. 62
...I had decided that I valued my freedom more than my dignity. What is dignity anyway but a facade for others? When you're by yourself it matters very little. Think about the way you behave when you're alone compared to your public persona. Besides, the more you enjoy living freely, the less you need dignity as a shield, because you stop making assuptions about what others may thing of you.
p.100
The black alpaca had been recently sheared, escept for its tail and the top of its head. The other had been left fluffy with white fleece so soft it seemed unreal when Jessie put a hand between the bars of the pen to touch it. The animal had a shaggy fringe of black on top of its head that hung down in front, almost obscuring its vision. But it was the huge eyes of the animals that attracted her. With no definition between pupil, iris, or sclera, they were so completely dark that i t ws difficult to tell where the alpacas were looking. Framed with incredibly long lashes, their eyes reminded Jessie of still pools of water that gleamed with reflections on the surface but kept the secrets of their depths. So calm and slow-moving they seemed almost sleepy, the two animals stood staring into the distance beyond those who stopped to admire them, but she had a feeling that their enigmatic liquid eyes missed very little of what went on around them.
I really enjoyed this book. There were moments of humor thrown in here and there that it made for a nice break in a stream of unpleasantness. The addition to Frank and Danny really was a joyful change of pace.
I could feel Jessie's despair and anxiety over Tanks disappearance and fate throughout the story. The bond between the two is palpable and wonderful. More people should feel as close to their "pets", as well as to their family and children. So much of the news nowadays is how disposable life is and how it is valued less in less and replaced by greed, fear and ignorance, as well as just plain cruelty. This is reflected in the book as well.
Oh yeah, Maxie McNabb makes an appearance in this book as well! And the return of an old friend of Jessie's!
Showing posts with label Sue Henry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sue Henry. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sue Henry books
The End of The Road: A Maxie and Stretch Mystery by Sue Henry (Hardcover - April 7, 2009)
Degrees of Separation: A Jessie Arnold Mystery (Jessie Arnold Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - April 1, 2008)
Product Description
Champion musher Jessie Arnold has been out of racing for a number of years, ever since she incurred a devastating knee injury. Now she's ready to get back into shape for this year's Iditarod. While taking her team on a practice run down a local trail she takes a snowy bump that's never been there before. It turns out to be a snow-shrouded body. Now, Jessie and her boyfriend, Alaska State Trooper Alex Jensen, are back chasing criminals. And the hunt is on for the killer of a supposed earthquake victim-whose death turns out to actually be a murder.
The Refuge: A Maxine and Stretch Mystery (Maxine and Stretch Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - April 3, 2007)(Paperback - Mar 4, 2008)
From Publishers Weekly
At the start of Henry's intriguing third mystery to feature Maxie McNabb (after 2006's The Tooth of Time), the 64-year-old Alaskan leaves home—and her mini-dachshund Stretch—to help a widowed, injured acquaintance, Karen Parker Bailey, in Hawaii. Hobbling on crutches, Karen needs Maxie's assistance packing up to move back to Alaska, but Maxie's reluctant good Samaritan work turns hazardous: the first night a prowler almost breaks in, the next day Karen's plumbing is sabotaged. Maxie senses Karen is concealing something when she overhears a whispered phone call.
Maxie hires Jerry, the conveniently just-fired plumber's assistant, to help with the move. When Karen goes on ahead to Alaska, Maxie rents an RV so she can tour the island with Jerry until their flight home. But the real danger closes in as they travel to a park, the Refuge, which, of course, turns out to be anything but. Despite a touch of cuteness, Maxie is good company, and she teams with Jerry to entertaining effect.
(Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The Tooth of Time: A Maxie And Stretch Mystery by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Aug 2006)(Paperback - April 3, 2007)
From Publishers Weekly
In Henry's agreeable second outing for Maxie McNabb (after 2004's The Serpent's Trail), the 63-year-old Alaskan with the insatiable curiosity continues to explore the lower 48 in her "Minnie Winnie," accompanied only by her feisty mini-dachshund, Stretch. Her travels take her to Taos, N.Mex., where she meets an old friend from Alaska, makes new friends among the weavers of Taos and gets acquainted with a woman who may or may not have attempted suicide, Shirley Morgan. When Shirley disappears, Maxie finds herself in danger and flees Taos.
The resilient and resourceful Maxie soon returns to Taos to face the danger and deal with a deadly and unsuspected killer. Maxie's cherished independence and her willingness to seek out new experiences alone and single should resonate with fans of cozy and atmospheric mysteries, though so far this series lacks the lovingly detailed descriptions of the environment that characterize Henry's Jessie Arnold books (Murder at Five Finger Light, etc.).
(Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Murder at Five Finger Light: A Jessie Arnold Mystery (Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - April 5, 2005)(Paperback - Mar 7, 2006)
From Booklist
At loose ends because she is unable to race her dogs this season due to an injury, Jessie Arnold heads to Five Finger Light Island to help friends restore an old lighthouse. On the way to the island, Jessie meets Karen Emerson, who is on the run from a persistent stalker, and invites her along on the trip. Once on the island, Jessie's idyllic getaway turns deadly as a body is found, a woman disappears, and an extensive search of the tiny island fails to find her. Jessie and her companions realize they are on their own when they discover that all means of communicating with the outside world are either missing or destroyed.
Alternating chapters from Jessie's and the stalker's points of view keep motives hidden and readers guessing as the plot moves briskly along. The unspoiled Alaskan setting, and Jessie and her boyfriend Alex's somewhat uneasy relationship, add to this eleventh in the series.
Sue O'BrienCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
The Serpents Trail: A Maxie and Stretch Mystery by Sue Henry (Hardcover - April 6, 2004)(Paperback - Mar 1, 2005)
From Publishers Weekly
Devotees of Henry's Alaska mysteries will be delighted to see 63-year-old Maxine "Maxie" McNabb, the Winnebago-driving, free-spirited widow introduced in Dead North (2001), starring in this gentle whodunit, the first of a new series.
Summoned from Alaska to Grand Junction, Colo., to the bedside of her ailing old friend Sarah Nunamaker, Maxie and her adorable mini-dachshund Stretch wheel in just in the nick of time, or do they? Sarah's final words to Maxie seem urgent, but leave her little to go on in order to investigate the wrongs to which Sarah mysteriously alludes. Much to the dismay of Alan, Sarah's adopted son, Maxie discovers she's been appointed Sarah's executor. She must also contend with a break-in at Sarah's home and her late friend's penchant for secret hiding places and secrets in general.
Then Ed Norris, a college mate of Maxie and Sarah, drops a real bombshell when he reveals the identities of Alan's biological parents. A box of photos, an address on a card and a surprising stranger later leadsor misleads Maxie and Stretch to Salt Lake City, where Maxie faces even greater dangers.
Cozy crime fans of a certain age will love to live vicariously through Maxie and Stretch in what promises to be a long and popular run of adventures.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Death Trap: An Alaska Mystery (Henry, Sue) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Jun 17, 2003)(Mass Market Paperback - April 27, 2004)
From Publishers Weekly
Anthony and Macavity Award winner Henry underutilizes her trademark Alaskan setting in her 10th Jessie Arnold mystery (after 2002's Cold Company).
Told in flashbacks by the famed musher and a number of her friends and allies, the novel rarely achieves her usual level of suspense. Sitting around Jessie's cabin, the group recalls and recounts where they were, what they did and what they knew as this story of murder, dognapping and kidnapping unfolds against the backdrop of the Alaska State Fair. Despite the absence of the author's customary depiction of the magnificent and treacherous Alaskan environment, readers will welcome the return of a former suitor and the introduction of 10-year-old Danny Tabor and 82-year-old Frank Monroe.
The spunky youngster and the verbose octogenarian form an unlikely but appealing alliance as they each confront the limitations placed on them by age. They also have to match wits with their pursuers when they unwittingly become possessors of important information. For Jessie, still recovering from knee surgery, this adventure tests her strength of will as she fights to find and rescue her lead dog and boon companion, Tank.
Established fans should enjoy this tale, but others should start with another book in the series.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Cold Company (Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Jun 2003)(Mass Market Paperback - May 27, 2003)
From Publishers Weekly
Alaskan musher Jessie Arnold has certainly used up more than nine lives even before the start of this ninth solid adventure in a series that has won both Anthony and Macavity awards. Fiercely independent and self-reliant to a fault, Jessie must confront inner fears as well as outside dangers as she sets about rebuilding her home (gutted in 2000's Beneath the Ashes) and restructuring her life (after a breakup that occurred in the same novel).
First a skeleton turns up in the excavation of her new cabin site; then a possible link is found to murders committed decades earlier by Alaska's most notorious serial killer, Robert Hansen. Hansen's victims, some of whom were never found, had been buried along the nearby Knik River. Soon not only the cabin construction crew but forensic and police investigators, plus a relative of one of Hansen's victims still searching for answers, are prowling the wild and remote Knik Road that leads to Jesse's property. As murders new and old begin to unfold, Jesse has to learn to rely on others as well as on her own substantial survival skills to surmount human and natural pitfalls.
One of the hallmarks of Henry's series is the beautiful and rugged Alaskan landscape, and she has never used it more effectively than she does here, as spring sets in motion new discoveries. And Jesse's continuing voyage of self-discovery should thrill old fans as well as expand her growing audience in the lower 48.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Dead North (Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - May 2002)(Mass Market Paperback - April 30, 2002)
From Publishers Weekly
This is one of Henry's best if not the best because characters, not a dog team, drive the plot. Waiting to replace her cabin (burned down in Beneath the Ashes; 2000), Jessie Arnold, with her beloved lead husky, Tank, agrees to pick up her contractor's new Winnebago in Idaho and drive it up the gloriously scenic Alaska Highway. Into the idyllic trip pops Patrick Cutler, a runaway teenager from Cody, Wyo.
Without the usual musher gang, Henry creates some lively new characters: "Maxie" McNabb, an independent, adventurous widow who befriends Jessie; elderly Mr. Dalton, Patrick's wily Cody neighbor; and tough long-distance trucker Butch Stringer. Jessie and Maxie know there are holes in Patrick's story, but they agree to help him reach a friend in Fairbanks, putting them on a collision course with his violent stepfather, "Mack" McMurdock, who killed Patrick's mother and is now after him. William Webster, a RCMP detective; Daniel Loomis, a Cody homicide cop; and two of Patrick's high school friends are also pursuing him, all for different reasons.
The talented Henry shows her love of the Alaskan wilderness with vivid descriptions of its spectacular beauty, using it as the backdrop for several heart-stopping chases. A clever ending leaves some strings dangling, while an excellent map helps keep the reader on track.
(July 2)Forecast: Henry's first novel, Murder on the Iditarod Trail, won the Anthony and Macavity awards. This book, with its stunning locale, will appeal to armchair travelers and readers interested in Alaska, as well as Henry's usual fans.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Beneath the Ashes: An Alaska Mystery (Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Jul 25, 2000)(Mass Market Paperback - May 29, 2001)
From Publishers Weekly
The identity of the arsonist plaguing musher Jessie Arnold comes as no surprise in her seventh outing, but Anthony and Macavity winner Henry provides plenty of unexpected twists and turns along the way. Right before Jessie's favorite bar burns down, killing an unknown man inside, she gets a call from an old acquaintance and former neighbor, Anne Holman, now living in Colorado. Anne asks Jessie to help her travel to the log cabin she once shared with her physically abusive husband, Greg. Knowing this entails a dog-sled trip into the wilderness, but feeling sorry for Anne, Jessie agrees.
As they prepare for their trip, however, Mike Tatum, the arson investigator looking into the bar fire, tells Jessie that Anne, who's been strangely secretive, was a suspect in an arson case years before in which the now-identified victim played a part. Anne swears Tatum is obsessed with proving her guilty, which makes sense to Jessie, who can't stand the man. Later, though, Jessie has to wonder when she and Anne arrive at their destination and find the charred remains of Anne's former home. Anne is sure that Greg has burned down the cabin since her last visit.
Back home, when someone torches the cabin Jessie built with her own hands, she can't figure out who her enemy really is A Tatum, whom she enraged by defending Anne; Anne herself; or Greg, who's followed his wife to Alaska. Again, Henry's lyrical descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness make up for a transparent plot and a melodramatic finale.
(July) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Murder on the Yukon Quest:: An Alaska Mystery (Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Jul 6, 1999)(Mass Market Paperback - May 2, 2000)
From Publishers Weekly
Alaska's spectacular, dangerous wilderness forms the background to Henry's engaging, if overplotted, sixth novel (after Deadfall). Professional musher Jessie Arnold is in peril, this time on the Yukon Quest, "the toughest dogsled race in the world," which runs over 1000 miles from Whitehorse, Canada, to Fairbanks, Alaska. Early in the race, novice musher Debbie Todd is captured and held for $200,000 ransom. The kidnappers demand that Debbie's frantic stepfather give Jessie the money for delivery during the race, warning them both that Debbie will die if they inform the police. But Jessie secretly notifies her good friend, Inspector Charles Delafosse, before she tackles the race's most demanding leg. In a climactic finish, Jessie almost loses her life when she confronts the criminals on American Summit during a blinding blizzard. Throughout this turmoil, Jessie is also trying to sort out her feelings for her lover, State Trooper Alex Jensen, who's at his father's funeral in Idaho.
Henry decorates her novel with glorious evocations of Alaska, believable characters, interesting mushing lore and deft explanations of dogsledding mechanics. But the story suffers from a thin plot that leans on obvious clues and unlikely coincidences. Nonetheless, dog lovers will enjoy it, as will those willing to forgive the faults in construction in favor of some beautiful writing.
Agent, Dominick Abel. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Deadfall:: An Alaska Mystery (Alex Jensen Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Aug 1, 1998)(Mass Market Paperback - Jul 1, 1999)
From Publishers Weekly
Iditarod musher Jessie Arnold is the focus of unwanted attention in the engrossing fifth Alaska mystery following Death Takes Passage (1997), as she becomes the target of an unknown stalker. Annoying phone calls with silence answering her hellos and threatening messages received in the mail quickly escalate to attacks on her beloved sled dogs and a near fatal sabotage attempt.
Alaska State trooper Alex Jensen, Jessie's boyfriend, convinces her to abandon their home in Knik and go to ground in a safe haven while he and his colleagues try to identify and stop the stalker. Jessie chooses an (almost) abandoned island in Kachemak Bay as her refuge, taking with her only her lead dog, Tank. Swinging back and forth between the stalker's attempts to locate Jessie and Alex's efforts to find the stalker, Henry ratchets the suspense steadily and unnervingly.
The beautiful and treacherous Alaskan environment is used to wonderful effect as wild storms batter Jessie's island retreat. While trying to cope with the immediate threats posed by the unknown stalker, Jessie also tries to come to grips with her deepening relationship with Alex and the threat to her vaunted independence. This tale, with its riveting suspense, wildly beautiful and dangerous setting and gutsy heroine, should bring this already notable series even further attention.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Death Takes Passage: An Alex Jensen Alaska Mystery (Alex Jensen Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Aug 1997)
From School Library Journal
YA. Alaska State Trooper Alex Jensen and his friend Jessie are onboard the ship Spirit of '98 as it reenacts a historic moment from the Klondike Gold Rush. However, the fact that it is not truly a vacation becomes obvious as the officer must deal with a series of severe crimes: robberies, a disappearance, murder, major theft, and a bomb. The challenges intensify before any of the mysteries are fully solved. Historical and geographical details are skillfully woven into the plot. The map and diagram help to identify the location of each scene. The cover art of a large glacier looming over the ship is symbolic of the intensity of the climax.?Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VACopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Alaska state trooper Alex Jensen and girlfriend Jessie Arnold (Sleeping Lady, LJ 8/96) cruise down the Inside Passage as part of the 100th anniversary of the Klondike Gold Rush. When robbery and death strike the ship, Alex must investigate. More good stuff.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
To celebrate the Alaskan gold rush centennial, the Spirit of '98, a 200-foot-long passenger vessel, is sailing the Inside Passage to Seattle with a ton of gold on board. State Trooper Alex Jensen and his girlfriend, Jessie, are along as representatives of the state. But nearby, shadowy figures are pirating a sailboat, and mutineers have infiltrated the passengers and crew. Alex and Jessie discover thefts and two murders; then they realize these crimes are just a prelude to the main event: someone intends to steal the gold.
In this fourth Alex Jensen mystery, Henry refreshingly blends classic mystery devices (a missing passenger, double identities, and locked rooms) with frontier and nautical history and the great beauty of Alaskan glaciers, mountains, night skies, and wildlife. In addition, Henry's enjoyable, well-paced novel displays little gratuitous violence and contains an intriguing mix of real and fictional characters. Death Takes Passage does for Alaska what Hunt for Red October did for submarines.
John Rowen
From Kirkus Reviews
Alaska State Trooper Alex Jensen returns to the past in even more ways than the one suggested by the retro title (cf. Death on the Nile, etc., etc.) when he's assigned to the Spirit of '98's Inside Passage cruise commemorating the centennial of the Alaskan Gold Rush. There'll be tours of historic local sites, period theatricals hearkening back to the 1890s, and, just for good measure, the ceremonial transporting of a ton of gold in bars, flakes, and dust. Naturally, all that gold draws the attention of a mysterious shipboard menace who pilfers golden goodies from selected passengers' staterooms, tosses suspiciously reticent Spirit staffer Julie Morrison overboard, and aims, with the help of some outside muscle, to catch the ship napping while it's isolated from radio contact in the Grenville Channel.
How serious are these guys? A couple of minor-league confederates have already stolen a sailboat and dispatched the luckless owner (the discovery of the floating corpse by the Spirit crew is only the most convenient of several whopping coincidences), and the ringleaders intend to blow up the Spirit as soon as they've off- loaded the swag.
Despite a boatload of nondescript suspects who remain as remote as the majestic natural backdrops, Henry (Sleeping Lady, 1996, etc.) keeps the intrigue swirling and the tension mounting with a program of threats, mysteries, and great scenery as varied as anything in a tour director's bag of tricks, in what may be her best outing yet.
(First printing of 25,000; author tour)
-- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Product Description
History is repeating itself on hundred years later on Alaska's breathtaking Inside Passage. Re-creating the famous Voyage of 1897, the Spirit of '98 is setting sail from Skagway, Alaska, en route to Seattle, Washington, carrying two tons of Yukon gold. Alaska State Trooper Alex Jensen and his love, famous female "musher" Jessie Arnold, are among the excited participants. The Grim Reaper is a passenger as well.
Dressed in period coustoume, Gold Rush buff Alex Jensen is only too happy to be representing the Troopers on this historic journey through a giant maze of scenic straits, harbors, and inlets. But the strange disappearance -- and probable death -- of a crew member pulls Alex rudely back to the present. As the only law officer in the vicinity, it is now his duty to unravel a twisted skein of lies, greed, and lethal shipboard secrets -- before the Spirit's fateful encounter with murderers abroad a stolen ketch writes a grim new chapter in Alaska's history.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Sleeping Lady: An Alex Jensen Mystery by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Sep 1996)(Mass Market Paperback - May 1, 1997)
From Publishers Weekly
Love of the Alaska wilderness, a hallmark of Henry's previous books (Termination Dust), shines throughout this hymn to black bears and bush pilots. Rochelle Lewis is told that her missing husband's plane has been located during the spring thaw near Mt. Susitna, known as The Sleeping Lady.
Her relief is soured when she learns that his whereabouts are still unaccounted for, but that a woman's body was found in the cockpit. Chelle flies immediately to the site only to find Alaska State Trooper Jensen investigating what is clearly a matter of foul play: the plane had been shot down and the unidentified woman had been fatally beaten before the crash. Where had Norm Lewis been taking this woman? And why hadn't he told his wife about the unscheduled charter flight? As Jensen, the medical examiner and other officials try to identify the woman and track the shooter, Chelle begins to wake from her winterlong paralysis occasioned by her husband's disappearance. But after she discovers clues to his fateful trip, she is stalked by those who want Norm's purpose hidden.
While the thin plot may disappoint some mystery traditionalists, Henry's textured characterization, her attentive depiction of the wilderness area and a brown bear's spring awakening and her indignation at hunting violations will engage most armchair travelers in the lower 48.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Termination Dust by Sue Henry (Hardcover - May 1995)(Mass Market Paperback - May 1, 1996)
From Publishers Weekly
Overplotted and tamer than Henry's award-winning Murder on the Iditarod Trail, this sequel takes its title from the Alaska Gold Rush, when "termination dust" meant the first snowfall of the season, signaling the end of the year's prospecting. Alaska state trooper Alex Jensen is in Canada working with Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector Charles "Del" Delafosse when a retired Alaskan senator Warren Russell is found murdered.
Not far off, the police come across Colorado canoeist Jim Hampton, who appears hungover and dazed but denies shooting Russell and insists that he himself was attacked by two others who stole his gear, which has been mysteriously returned, along with a skull and some old bones Hampton had discovered upriver. As Del investigates the murder, Jensen reads the Gold Rush journal Hampton found near the bones. Henry crosscuts the account of the murder investigation with entries from the journal, which is offered in full at the end of the novel. The two plot threads remain tenuously connected, despite the Yukon blizzard that occurs in each.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Murder on the Iditarod Trail by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Mar 1991)(Mass Market Paperback - Jan 1, 2001)
From Publishers Weekly
In this enthralling debut mystery, someone is killing the mushers (dog sled racers) competing in Alaska's internationally famous Iditarod--a 1000-mile race from Anchorage to Nome. The first victim's face is ripped off during a freak accident. Later, state trooper Sgt. Alex Jensen, assigned to the routine investigation of an apparently accidental death, learns that the deceased had been drugged and unconscious moments before his sled crashed. As the two-week run in sub-zero cold continues, the second victim is crushed by a rigged dog sled and the third is eaten alive by doped huskies.
The $250,000 prize money makes Jensen consider all the competing mushers as suspects; however, as more fall prey to mysterious injuries, he realizes that the killer is after more than cash. While the list of suspects dwindles, pitiless Arctic snowstorms immobilize Jensen's search and leave the surviving racers at the mercy of the killer. Henry provides suspense and excitement in this paean to a great sporting event and to the powerful Alaskan landscape.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Degrees of Separation: A Jessie Arnold Mystery (Jessie Arnold Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - April 1, 2008)
Product Description
Champion musher Jessie Arnold has been out of racing for a number of years, ever since she incurred a devastating knee injury. Now she's ready to get back into shape for this year's Iditarod. While taking her team on a practice run down a local trail she takes a snowy bump that's never been there before. It turns out to be a snow-shrouded body. Now, Jessie and her boyfriend, Alaska State Trooper Alex Jensen, are back chasing criminals. And the hunt is on for the killer of a supposed earthquake victim-whose death turns out to actually be a murder.
The Refuge: A Maxine and Stretch Mystery (Maxine and Stretch Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - April 3, 2007)(Paperback - Mar 4, 2008)
From Publishers Weekly
At the start of Henry's intriguing third mystery to feature Maxie McNabb (after 2006's The Tooth of Time), the 64-year-old Alaskan leaves home—and her mini-dachshund Stretch—to help a widowed, injured acquaintance, Karen Parker Bailey, in Hawaii. Hobbling on crutches, Karen needs Maxie's assistance packing up to move back to Alaska, but Maxie's reluctant good Samaritan work turns hazardous: the first night a prowler almost breaks in, the next day Karen's plumbing is sabotaged. Maxie senses Karen is concealing something when she overhears a whispered phone call.
Maxie hires Jerry, the conveniently just-fired plumber's assistant, to help with the move. When Karen goes on ahead to Alaska, Maxie rents an RV so she can tour the island with Jerry until their flight home. But the real danger closes in as they travel to a park, the Refuge, which, of course, turns out to be anything but. Despite a touch of cuteness, Maxie is good company, and she teams with Jerry to entertaining effect.
(Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The Tooth of Time: A Maxie And Stretch Mystery by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Aug 2006)(Paperback - April 3, 2007)
From Publishers Weekly
In Henry's agreeable second outing for Maxie McNabb (after 2004's The Serpent's Trail), the 63-year-old Alaskan with the insatiable curiosity continues to explore the lower 48 in her "Minnie Winnie," accompanied only by her feisty mini-dachshund, Stretch. Her travels take her to Taos, N.Mex., where she meets an old friend from Alaska, makes new friends among the weavers of Taos and gets acquainted with a woman who may or may not have attempted suicide, Shirley Morgan. When Shirley disappears, Maxie finds herself in danger and flees Taos.
The resilient and resourceful Maxie soon returns to Taos to face the danger and deal with a deadly and unsuspected killer. Maxie's cherished independence and her willingness to seek out new experiences alone and single should resonate with fans of cozy and atmospheric mysteries, though so far this series lacks the lovingly detailed descriptions of the environment that characterize Henry's Jessie Arnold books (Murder at Five Finger Light, etc.).
(Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Murder at Five Finger Light: A Jessie Arnold Mystery (Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - April 5, 2005)(Paperback - Mar 7, 2006)
From Booklist
At loose ends because she is unable to race her dogs this season due to an injury, Jessie Arnold heads to Five Finger Light Island to help friends restore an old lighthouse. On the way to the island, Jessie meets Karen Emerson, who is on the run from a persistent stalker, and invites her along on the trip. Once on the island, Jessie's idyllic getaway turns deadly as a body is found, a woman disappears, and an extensive search of the tiny island fails to find her. Jessie and her companions realize they are on their own when they discover that all means of communicating with the outside world are either missing or destroyed.
Alternating chapters from Jessie's and the stalker's points of view keep motives hidden and readers guessing as the plot moves briskly along. The unspoiled Alaskan setting, and Jessie and her boyfriend Alex's somewhat uneasy relationship, add to this eleventh in the series.
Sue O'BrienCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
The Serpents Trail: A Maxie and Stretch Mystery by Sue Henry (Hardcover - April 6, 2004)(Paperback - Mar 1, 2005)
From Publishers Weekly
Devotees of Henry's Alaska mysteries will be delighted to see 63-year-old Maxine "Maxie" McNabb, the Winnebago-driving, free-spirited widow introduced in Dead North (2001), starring in this gentle whodunit, the first of a new series.
Summoned from Alaska to Grand Junction, Colo., to the bedside of her ailing old friend Sarah Nunamaker, Maxie and her adorable mini-dachshund Stretch wheel in just in the nick of time, or do they? Sarah's final words to Maxie seem urgent, but leave her little to go on in order to investigate the wrongs to which Sarah mysteriously alludes. Much to the dismay of Alan, Sarah's adopted son, Maxie discovers she's been appointed Sarah's executor. She must also contend with a break-in at Sarah's home and her late friend's penchant for secret hiding places and secrets in general.
Then Ed Norris, a college mate of Maxie and Sarah, drops a real bombshell when he reveals the identities of Alan's biological parents. A box of photos, an address on a card and a surprising stranger later leadsor misleads Maxie and Stretch to Salt Lake City, where Maxie faces even greater dangers.
Cozy crime fans of a certain age will love to live vicariously through Maxie and Stretch in what promises to be a long and popular run of adventures.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Death Trap: An Alaska Mystery (Henry, Sue) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Jun 17, 2003)(Mass Market Paperback - April 27, 2004)
From Publishers Weekly
Anthony and Macavity Award winner Henry underutilizes her trademark Alaskan setting in her 10th Jessie Arnold mystery (after 2002's Cold Company).
Told in flashbacks by the famed musher and a number of her friends and allies, the novel rarely achieves her usual level of suspense. Sitting around Jessie's cabin, the group recalls and recounts where they were, what they did and what they knew as this story of murder, dognapping and kidnapping unfolds against the backdrop of the Alaska State Fair. Despite the absence of the author's customary depiction of the magnificent and treacherous Alaskan environment, readers will welcome the return of a former suitor and the introduction of 10-year-old Danny Tabor and 82-year-old Frank Monroe.
The spunky youngster and the verbose octogenarian form an unlikely but appealing alliance as they each confront the limitations placed on them by age. They also have to match wits with their pursuers when they unwittingly become possessors of important information. For Jessie, still recovering from knee surgery, this adventure tests her strength of will as she fights to find and rescue her lead dog and boon companion, Tank.
Established fans should enjoy this tale, but others should start with another book in the series.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Cold Company (Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Jun 2003)(Mass Market Paperback - May 27, 2003)
From Publishers Weekly
Alaskan musher Jessie Arnold has certainly used up more than nine lives even before the start of this ninth solid adventure in a series that has won both Anthony and Macavity awards. Fiercely independent and self-reliant to a fault, Jessie must confront inner fears as well as outside dangers as she sets about rebuilding her home (gutted in 2000's Beneath the Ashes) and restructuring her life (after a breakup that occurred in the same novel).
First a skeleton turns up in the excavation of her new cabin site; then a possible link is found to murders committed decades earlier by Alaska's most notorious serial killer, Robert Hansen. Hansen's victims, some of whom were never found, had been buried along the nearby Knik River. Soon not only the cabin construction crew but forensic and police investigators, plus a relative of one of Hansen's victims still searching for answers, are prowling the wild and remote Knik Road that leads to Jesse's property. As murders new and old begin to unfold, Jesse has to learn to rely on others as well as on her own substantial survival skills to surmount human and natural pitfalls.
One of the hallmarks of Henry's series is the beautiful and rugged Alaskan landscape, and she has never used it more effectively than she does here, as spring sets in motion new discoveries. And Jesse's continuing voyage of self-discovery should thrill old fans as well as expand her growing audience in the lower 48.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Dead North (Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - May 2002)(Mass Market Paperback - April 30, 2002)
From Publishers Weekly
This is one of Henry's best if not the best because characters, not a dog team, drive the plot. Waiting to replace her cabin (burned down in Beneath the Ashes; 2000), Jessie Arnold, with her beloved lead husky, Tank, agrees to pick up her contractor's new Winnebago in Idaho and drive it up the gloriously scenic Alaska Highway. Into the idyllic trip pops Patrick Cutler, a runaway teenager from Cody, Wyo.
Without the usual musher gang, Henry creates some lively new characters: "Maxie" McNabb, an independent, adventurous widow who befriends Jessie; elderly Mr. Dalton, Patrick's wily Cody neighbor; and tough long-distance trucker Butch Stringer. Jessie and Maxie know there are holes in Patrick's story, but they agree to help him reach a friend in Fairbanks, putting them on a collision course with his violent stepfather, "Mack" McMurdock, who killed Patrick's mother and is now after him. William Webster, a RCMP detective; Daniel Loomis, a Cody homicide cop; and two of Patrick's high school friends are also pursuing him, all for different reasons.
The talented Henry shows her love of the Alaskan wilderness with vivid descriptions of its spectacular beauty, using it as the backdrop for several heart-stopping chases. A clever ending leaves some strings dangling, while an excellent map helps keep the reader on track.
(July 2)Forecast: Henry's first novel, Murder on the Iditarod Trail, won the Anthony and Macavity awards. This book, with its stunning locale, will appeal to armchair travelers and readers interested in Alaska, as well as Henry's usual fans.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Beneath the Ashes: An Alaska Mystery (Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Jul 25, 2000)(Mass Market Paperback - May 29, 2001)
From Publishers Weekly
The identity of the arsonist plaguing musher Jessie Arnold comes as no surprise in her seventh outing, but Anthony and Macavity winner Henry provides plenty of unexpected twists and turns along the way. Right before Jessie's favorite bar burns down, killing an unknown man inside, she gets a call from an old acquaintance and former neighbor, Anne Holman, now living in Colorado. Anne asks Jessie to help her travel to the log cabin she once shared with her physically abusive husband, Greg. Knowing this entails a dog-sled trip into the wilderness, but feeling sorry for Anne, Jessie agrees.
As they prepare for their trip, however, Mike Tatum, the arson investigator looking into the bar fire, tells Jessie that Anne, who's been strangely secretive, was a suspect in an arson case years before in which the now-identified victim played a part. Anne swears Tatum is obsessed with proving her guilty, which makes sense to Jessie, who can't stand the man. Later, though, Jessie has to wonder when she and Anne arrive at their destination and find the charred remains of Anne's former home. Anne is sure that Greg has burned down the cabin since her last visit.
Back home, when someone torches the cabin Jessie built with her own hands, she can't figure out who her enemy really is A Tatum, whom she enraged by defending Anne; Anne herself; or Greg, who's followed his wife to Alaska. Again, Henry's lyrical descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness make up for a transparent plot and a melodramatic finale.
(July) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Murder on the Yukon Quest:: An Alaska Mystery (Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Jul 6, 1999)(Mass Market Paperback - May 2, 2000)
From Publishers Weekly
Alaska's spectacular, dangerous wilderness forms the background to Henry's engaging, if overplotted, sixth novel (after Deadfall). Professional musher Jessie Arnold is in peril, this time on the Yukon Quest, "the toughest dogsled race in the world," which runs over 1000 miles from Whitehorse, Canada, to Fairbanks, Alaska. Early in the race, novice musher Debbie Todd is captured and held for $200,000 ransom. The kidnappers demand that Debbie's frantic stepfather give Jessie the money for delivery during the race, warning them both that Debbie will die if they inform the police. But Jessie secretly notifies her good friend, Inspector Charles Delafosse, before she tackles the race's most demanding leg. In a climactic finish, Jessie almost loses her life when she confronts the criminals on American Summit during a blinding blizzard. Throughout this turmoil, Jessie is also trying to sort out her feelings for her lover, State Trooper Alex Jensen, who's at his father's funeral in Idaho.
Henry decorates her novel with glorious evocations of Alaska, believable characters, interesting mushing lore and deft explanations of dogsledding mechanics. But the story suffers from a thin plot that leans on obvious clues and unlikely coincidences. Nonetheless, dog lovers will enjoy it, as will those willing to forgive the faults in construction in favor of some beautiful writing.
Agent, Dominick Abel. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Deadfall:: An Alaska Mystery (Alex Jensen Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Aug 1, 1998)(Mass Market Paperback - Jul 1, 1999)
From Publishers Weekly
Iditarod musher Jessie Arnold is the focus of unwanted attention in the engrossing fifth Alaska mystery following Death Takes Passage (1997), as she becomes the target of an unknown stalker. Annoying phone calls with silence answering her hellos and threatening messages received in the mail quickly escalate to attacks on her beloved sled dogs and a near fatal sabotage attempt.
Alaska State trooper Alex Jensen, Jessie's boyfriend, convinces her to abandon their home in Knik and go to ground in a safe haven while he and his colleagues try to identify and stop the stalker. Jessie chooses an (almost) abandoned island in Kachemak Bay as her refuge, taking with her only her lead dog, Tank. Swinging back and forth between the stalker's attempts to locate Jessie and Alex's efforts to find the stalker, Henry ratchets the suspense steadily and unnervingly.
The beautiful and treacherous Alaskan environment is used to wonderful effect as wild storms batter Jessie's island retreat. While trying to cope with the immediate threats posed by the unknown stalker, Jessie also tries to come to grips with her deepening relationship with Alex and the threat to her vaunted independence. This tale, with its riveting suspense, wildly beautiful and dangerous setting and gutsy heroine, should bring this already notable series even further attention.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Death Takes Passage: An Alex Jensen Alaska Mystery (Alex Jensen Alaska Mysteries) by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Aug 1997)
From School Library Journal
YA. Alaska State Trooper Alex Jensen and his friend Jessie are onboard the ship Spirit of '98 as it reenacts a historic moment from the Klondike Gold Rush. However, the fact that it is not truly a vacation becomes obvious as the officer must deal with a series of severe crimes: robberies, a disappearance, murder, major theft, and a bomb. The challenges intensify before any of the mysteries are fully solved. Historical and geographical details are skillfully woven into the plot. The map and diagram help to identify the location of each scene. The cover art of a large glacier looming over the ship is symbolic of the intensity of the climax.?Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VACopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Alaska state trooper Alex Jensen and girlfriend Jessie Arnold (Sleeping Lady, LJ 8/96) cruise down the Inside Passage as part of the 100th anniversary of the Klondike Gold Rush. When robbery and death strike the ship, Alex must investigate. More good stuff.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
To celebrate the Alaskan gold rush centennial, the Spirit of '98, a 200-foot-long passenger vessel, is sailing the Inside Passage to Seattle with a ton of gold on board. State Trooper Alex Jensen and his girlfriend, Jessie, are along as representatives of the state. But nearby, shadowy figures are pirating a sailboat, and mutineers have infiltrated the passengers and crew. Alex and Jessie discover thefts and two murders; then they realize these crimes are just a prelude to the main event: someone intends to steal the gold.
In this fourth Alex Jensen mystery, Henry refreshingly blends classic mystery devices (a missing passenger, double identities, and locked rooms) with frontier and nautical history and the great beauty of Alaskan glaciers, mountains, night skies, and wildlife. In addition, Henry's enjoyable, well-paced novel displays little gratuitous violence and contains an intriguing mix of real and fictional characters. Death Takes Passage does for Alaska what Hunt for Red October did for submarines.
John Rowen
From Kirkus Reviews
Alaska State Trooper Alex Jensen returns to the past in even more ways than the one suggested by the retro title (cf. Death on the Nile, etc., etc.) when he's assigned to the Spirit of '98's Inside Passage cruise commemorating the centennial of the Alaskan Gold Rush. There'll be tours of historic local sites, period theatricals hearkening back to the 1890s, and, just for good measure, the ceremonial transporting of a ton of gold in bars, flakes, and dust. Naturally, all that gold draws the attention of a mysterious shipboard menace who pilfers golden goodies from selected passengers' staterooms, tosses suspiciously reticent Spirit staffer Julie Morrison overboard, and aims, with the help of some outside muscle, to catch the ship napping while it's isolated from radio contact in the Grenville Channel.
How serious are these guys? A couple of minor-league confederates have already stolen a sailboat and dispatched the luckless owner (the discovery of the floating corpse by the Spirit crew is only the most convenient of several whopping coincidences), and the ringleaders intend to blow up the Spirit as soon as they've off- loaded the swag.
Despite a boatload of nondescript suspects who remain as remote as the majestic natural backdrops, Henry (Sleeping Lady, 1996, etc.) keeps the intrigue swirling and the tension mounting with a program of threats, mysteries, and great scenery as varied as anything in a tour director's bag of tricks, in what may be her best outing yet.
(First printing of 25,000; author tour)
-- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Product Description
History is repeating itself on hundred years later on Alaska's breathtaking Inside Passage. Re-creating the famous Voyage of 1897, the Spirit of '98 is setting sail from Skagway, Alaska, en route to Seattle, Washington, carrying two tons of Yukon gold. Alaska State Trooper Alex Jensen and his love, famous female "musher" Jessie Arnold, are among the excited participants. The Grim Reaper is a passenger as well.
Dressed in period coustoume, Gold Rush buff Alex Jensen is only too happy to be representing the Troopers on this historic journey through a giant maze of scenic straits, harbors, and inlets. But the strange disappearance -- and probable death -- of a crew member pulls Alex rudely back to the present. As the only law officer in the vicinity, it is now his duty to unravel a twisted skein of lies, greed, and lethal shipboard secrets -- before the Spirit's fateful encounter with murderers abroad a stolen ketch writes a grim new chapter in Alaska's history.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Sleeping Lady: An Alex Jensen Mystery by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Sep 1996)(Mass Market Paperback - May 1, 1997)
From Publishers Weekly
Love of the Alaska wilderness, a hallmark of Henry's previous books (Termination Dust), shines throughout this hymn to black bears and bush pilots. Rochelle Lewis is told that her missing husband's plane has been located during the spring thaw near Mt. Susitna, known as The Sleeping Lady.
Her relief is soured when she learns that his whereabouts are still unaccounted for, but that a woman's body was found in the cockpit. Chelle flies immediately to the site only to find Alaska State Trooper Jensen investigating what is clearly a matter of foul play: the plane had been shot down and the unidentified woman had been fatally beaten before the crash. Where had Norm Lewis been taking this woman? And why hadn't he told his wife about the unscheduled charter flight? As Jensen, the medical examiner and other officials try to identify the woman and track the shooter, Chelle begins to wake from her winterlong paralysis occasioned by her husband's disappearance. But after she discovers clues to his fateful trip, she is stalked by those who want Norm's purpose hidden.
While the thin plot may disappoint some mystery traditionalists, Henry's textured characterization, her attentive depiction of the wilderness area and a brown bear's spring awakening and her indignation at hunting violations will engage most armchair travelers in the lower 48.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Termination Dust by Sue Henry (Hardcover - May 1995)(Mass Market Paperback - May 1, 1996)
From Publishers Weekly
Overplotted and tamer than Henry's award-winning Murder on the Iditarod Trail, this sequel takes its title from the Alaska Gold Rush, when "termination dust" meant the first snowfall of the season, signaling the end of the year's prospecting. Alaska state trooper Alex Jensen is in Canada working with Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector Charles "Del" Delafosse when a retired Alaskan senator Warren Russell is found murdered.
Not far off, the police come across Colorado canoeist Jim Hampton, who appears hungover and dazed but denies shooting Russell and insists that he himself was attacked by two others who stole his gear, which has been mysteriously returned, along with a skull and some old bones Hampton had discovered upriver. As Del investigates the murder, Jensen reads the Gold Rush journal Hampton found near the bones. Henry crosscuts the account of the murder investigation with entries from the journal, which is offered in full at the end of the novel. The two plot threads remain tenuously connected, despite the Yukon blizzard that occurs in each.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Murder on the Iditarod Trail by Sue Henry (Hardcover - Mar 1991)(Mass Market Paperback - Jan 1, 2001)
From Publishers Weekly
In this enthralling debut mystery, someone is killing the mushers (dog sled racers) competing in Alaska's internationally famous Iditarod--a 1000-mile race from Anchorage to Nome. The first victim's face is ripped off during a freak accident. Later, state trooper Sgt. Alex Jensen, assigned to the routine investigation of an apparently accidental death, learns that the deceased had been drugged and unconscious moments before his sled crashed. As the two-week run in sub-zero cold continues, the second victim is crushed by a rigged dog sled and the third is eaten alive by doped huskies.
The $250,000 prize money makes Jensen consider all the competing mushers as suspects; however, as more fall prey to mysterious injuries, he realizes that the killer is after more than cash. While the list of suspects dwindles, pitiless Arctic snowstorms immobilize Jensen's search and leave the surviving racers at the mercy of the killer. Henry provides suspense and excitement in this paean to a great sporting event and to the powerful Alaskan landscape.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Henry, Sue: Cold Company (Jessie Arnold Mystery)
Book cover excerpt: Multiple award-winning author Sue Henry once again carries us into the heart of America's last frontier with a gripping tale of suspense set in a land whose rugged, exquisite beauty appeals to the adventurous and strong...and to those who are drawn to darkness.
The summer solstice is near---bringing long sunlit days to the Alaskan wilderness---and for famed "musher" Jessie Arnold, the time has come to put the past behind her and move on. Building a new home for herself and her sled dogs on the charred ashes of her old one, she plans to be finished well before the onset of the long northern winter. But her progress is halted---chilling Jessie to the bone---when the excavations unearth a skeleton entoumbed in a crumbling basement wall.
Twenty years earlier, a serial killer brutally murdered a number of women in the area. One of the fiend's victims disappeared wearing butterfly pendant---a necklace similar, if not identical, to one discovered with the grisly human remains. A grim nightmare believed to be long over must bow be revisited or, worse still, has been reborn. Because, once again, a local woman has disappeared without a trace.
And, once again, Jessie is being pulled into a murder investigation against her will. Red roses are being sent to her anonymously---the gifts of a secret admirer who may also be a stone-cold killer. In this stark and lonely place, in the first days of the all-too-brief Alaskan summer, the signs suggest the unthinkable: An insatiable human monster has returned...and Jessie Arnold may well be his next victim.
In what is perhaps her most unforgettable novel to date, the incomparable Sue Henry weaves a spellbinding tale of past sins and present-day evils, of humanity at its best and at its worst, and nature at its most powerful.
Note to self and to others, might be a good idea to read a series in order, rather than as you find them, LOL. My what confusion ensues when you've read later ones and try to put the current one you're reading in perspective as to timeline.
I read some of the Jessie Arnold books before, and really enjoyed them...but I think they all came later than this one, and my mind boggles trying to keep that in mind.
The author also makes note at the end of the book that there really was a Robert Hansen that was an evil monster in Alaska a few decades past. He was a big game hunter who then chose to change his game to the female human type...along with rape. There are two books on him, but will let you look it up...don't know if I want to remember that, LOL.
I see Alaska as a near pristine wilderness, where most "unnatural" deaths would be caused by wildlife or unfortunate accidents. Tend to forget the human factor, and that the mentally messed up might see it as an ideal location to practice their deviant behavior.
Still like Jessie with Alex Jensen though...
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Henry, Sue: The Tooth of Time
Book cover excerpt:
Maxie McNabb, the "irresistible" Winnebago-driving sixty-something-year-old, is back---and criminals from the frigid Iditarod Trail to the scorching Southwest had better beware. With her canine companion, Stretch, in tow, Maxie is "the most refreshingly original protagonist to come along in years." (Earlene Fowler) And this time, she sets out to turn one on-edge town back into a peaceful pueblo....
One of the best parts of zigzagging the country in her Minnie Winnie is the possibility of endless adventure---and Maxie McNabb is always up for trying new things. So she and little Stretch head for the languorous heat of Taos, New Mexico, where Maxie plans to learn how to weave.
But everything changes for the sleepy town when a local woman attempts suicide. A casualty of her husband's midlife crisis, she has been replaced by a newer, sexier model. And to top it off, a sleay con man has set his sights on her.
Even though she's on vacation, Maxie is determined to help the poor thing. and with her nose for trouble, she thinks she can do it. She'll leave no mesa unturned until she brings two dogs to justice---neither of which is trusty Stretch....
Quotes.....
p. 38....To me there is a certain dignity in accepting what you are, and are becoming, however age sculpts you. I can understand the impulse to look as young as possible for as long as possible, especially if your appearance is important to how you make your living, like those in the movie industry, for instance, or to the kind of entertaining required of someone like Shirley in support of her husband's professional socializing. Maybe I'm just too casual about my appearance, or too stubbornly set in my ways, but to me the value of anyone is more in the kind of person he or she is than in looks.
p. 91....Admittedly, I am a book collector of the pack rat sort. I like the feel of them, the size and texture of their covers and pages, the smell of print on paper. At home my tall bookshelves full of books of many sizes and colors are better than wallpaper, more vibrant and interesting, full of the promise of new and old friends. Raised by parents who loved books and encouraged reading, I have always had trouble letting go of my books, though the shelves may be full to overflowing into stacks on the floor. During my first trip in a motor home with restricted space i therefore established a rule for myself: For every book I bring into the Winnebago, one must go out---unless---and I do have an escape clause---unless I elect to ship those I cannot bear to part with to a friend in Homer, Alaska, who holds them for me until I eventually come home to claim them.
pg 117....It is remarkable how threatened an intrusion into your private space makes you feel. We go along, day to day, assuming we are safe and ignoring how easy it would be for someone to just walk right in, invited or not, with good or bad intentions. When someone does, it shakes all your confidence in being safe behind locked doors. I couldn't help wondering what would have happened if I had been at home and was glad I had not been.
pg. 214...."What do you know about a landmark called the Tooth of Time?" I asked Pat. "Butch says I should go and see it when I go through Cimarron again."
"Oh, you should. It's a pretty impressive hunk of rock that crowns the ridge behind the Philmont Scout Ranch and is sort of a symbol for them. They use it on pins and badges, and take Scouts on hikes up to it. Someone told me once that they tell the boys that if they look over their shoulder at it before leaving they're sure to come back sometime."
I have read Sue Henry's books before, and enjoyed them all (the ones I have managed to read so far). I had reservations on the Maxie McNabb and Stretch books, about whether I'd like them or not, well I shouldn't have because they are really good!
This book I DID look forward to because it took place in and around Taos, NM. I visited there with my grandparents back in my mid-teens (around 1980) and loved it. But then I am VERY partial to exploring Native American culture, and we visited the reservation there. We were treated to fry cakes, Misti and I could only afford a couple, and the really nice ladies there threw in the other flavors as an extra. And I saw a wonderful pair of white moccassin boots in one of the stores that I wanted desperately, but didn't have money left for. The people that I did meet there were very nice and accomodating for a teenage girl. It is one of the few places that I have been that I would really like to return to visit.
And the book touched on weaving, which I have had a remote interest in for many years as well. Also gave me a few recommendations in reading material on the subject, which I intend to check into.
There was a few twists in the story that I really should have guessed on earlier, but didn't. And the book wasn't bound to gore and deep descriptions of crime scenes that can get a bit overwhelming at times. You just trail along with Maxie and Stretch and pals while the story unfolds. This is a really nice read when you are a bit overwhelmed with other things and can't take the depressing details of some of the more science based series. (Some of which I love as well, but can't take too much of at one time).
But Ms. Henry did make Weavings Southwest sound like a store that I would like to go to and browse. Sometimes fictional backdrops can just be frustrating, LOL!
Maxie McNabb, the "irresistible" Winnebago-driving sixty-something-year-old, is back---and criminals from the frigid Iditarod Trail to the scorching Southwest had better beware. With her canine companion, Stretch, in tow, Maxie is "the most refreshingly original protagonist to come along in years." (Earlene Fowler) And this time, she sets out to turn one on-edge town back into a peaceful pueblo....
One of the best parts of zigzagging the country in her Minnie Winnie is the possibility of endless adventure---and Maxie McNabb is always up for trying new things. So she and little Stretch head for the languorous heat of Taos, New Mexico, where Maxie plans to learn how to weave.
But everything changes for the sleepy town when a local woman attempts suicide. A casualty of her husband's midlife crisis, she has been replaced by a newer, sexier model. And to top it off, a sleay con man has set his sights on her.
Even though she's on vacation, Maxie is determined to help the poor thing. and with her nose for trouble, she thinks she can do it. She'll leave no mesa unturned until she brings two dogs to justice---neither of which is trusty Stretch....
Quotes.....
p. 38....To me there is a certain dignity in accepting what you are, and are becoming, however age sculpts you. I can understand the impulse to look as young as possible for as long as possible, especially if your appearance is important to how you make your living, like those in the movie industry, for instance, or to the kind of entertaining required of someone like Shirley in support of her husband's professional socializing. Maybe I'm just too casual about my appearance, or too stubbornly set in my ways, but to me the value of anyone is more in the kind of person he or she is than in looks.
p. 91....Admittedly, I am a book collector of the pack rat sort. I like the feel of them, the size and texture of their covers and pages, the smell of print on paper. At home my tall bookshelves full of books of many sizes and colors are better than wallpaper, more vibrant and interesting, full of the promise of new and old friends. Raised by parents who loved books and encouraged reading, I have always had trouble letting go of my books, though the shelves may be full to overflowing into stacks on the floor. During my first trip in a motor home with restricted space i therefore established a rule for myself: For every book I bring into the Winnebago, one must go out---unless---and I do have an escape clause---unless I elect to ship those I cannot bear to part with to a friend in Homer, Alaska, who holds them for me until I eventually come home to claim them.
pg 117....It is remarkable how threatened an intrusion into your private space makes you feel. We go along, day to day, assuming we are safe and ignoring how easy it would be for someone to just walk right in, invited or not, with good or bad intentions. When someone does, it shakes all your confidence in being safe behind locked doors. I couldn't help wondering what would have happened if I had been at home and was glad I had not been.
I was also glad to have had Butch with me when I tried to open the door. Now that he was gone I found myself feeling very much alone, and had an odd compulsion to pick up the phone and call someone, which is what I would have done if I had been at home. But couldn't think of anyone in particular I wanted to talk to except perhaps my son, Joe.
p119....I knew we had been walking together along a road in Homer, for I remembered a view of the bay and the mountains of the Kenai Range rising majestically beyond it to the south. It was a thing we had done often and I had valued those walks for their peace and what it said about our relationship. Couples who have long been close walk together differently than those who have not---steadily and in step, a sort of unspoken affermation. We had been walking like that, holding hands, and whatever small speech we had made had been pleasant and positive.
Then, as usual, the images were gone with Daniel, but I had no trouble retaining the emotion---a gift as dear as it had been when he was alive and we really had walked that road. Eyes still closed, I clung to that feeling as I gave up, let the rest go, and, grateful for small treasures, resettled myself in the bed.
Stretch shifted his weight near my feet and we both went back to sleep.
pg. 214...."What do you know about a landmark called the Tooth of Time?" I asked Pat. "Butch says I should go and see it when I go through Cimarron again."
"Oh, you should. It's a pretty impressive hunk of rock that crowns the ridge behind the Philmont Scout Ranch and is sort of a symbol for them. They use it on pins and badges, and take Scouts on hikes up to it. Someone told me once that they tell the boys that if they look over their shoulder at it before leaving they're sure to come back sometime."
I have read Sue Henry's books before, and enjoyed them all (the ones I have managed to read so far). I had reservations on the Maxie McNabb and Stretch books, about whether I'd like them or not, well I shouldn't have because they are really good!
This book I DID look forward to because it took place in and around Taos, NM. I visited there with my grandparents back in my mid-teens (around 1980) and loved it. But then I am VERY partial to exploring Native American culture, and we visited the reservation there. We were treated to fry cakes, Misti and I could only afford a couple, and the really nice ladies there threw in the other flavors as an extra. And I saw a wonderful pair of white moccassin boots in one of the stores that I wanted desperately, but didn't have money left for. The people that I did meet there were very nice and accomodating for a teenage girl. It is one of the few places that I have been that I would really like to return to visit.
And the book touched on weaving, which I have had a remote interest in for many years as well. Also gave me a few recommendations in reading material on the subject, which I intend to check into.
There was a few twists in the story that I really should have guessed on earlier, but didn't. And the book wasn't bound to gore and deep descriptions of crime scenes that can get a bit overwhelming at times. You just trail along with Maxie and Stretch and pals while the story unfolds. This is a really nice read when you are a bit overwhelmed with other things and can't take the depressing details of some of the more science based series. (Some of which I love as well, but can't take too much of at one time).
But Ms. Henry did make Weavings Southwest sound like a store that I would like to go to and browse. Sometimes fictional backdrops can just be frustrating, LOL!
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