Dana Stabenow, A Deeper Sleep

A Deeper Sleep

Dana Stabenow

St. Martin's, January 2007 $24.95, 272 pp.

ISBN 0312343221

Private detective Kate Shugak is an Alaskan Aleut, who homesteads in the Park and was groomed by her grandmother to become the leader of the tribe and head of the Niniltna Native Association. Solitary by nature, Kate ignores the pleas of the "Aunties" and devotes her own time to raising her dead lover's son Johnny and luring state trooper Jim Cobb into a relationship with her. They both go to see the verdict on Park resident Louis Dean for murder.

The jury acquits him in the death of his wife, even though Louis has a habit of killing his wives and assaulting and raping females. Yet he has never been convicted. A few weeks later a woman and her child are murdered and their gold nugget collection stolen. Kate's ward Johnny identifies Louis as the killer. The DA refuses to prosecute, so he walks once more leaving the residents of the park angry enough to murder him themselves.

There are a lot of fun scenes in which Jim feels that he is going down for the count and Kate is getting ready to rope him in. These scenes are needed as counterpoint to the odious actions of a predator and killer who has his henchmen try to kill Johnny and end up injuring Kate's beloved mutt. This Alaskan tale is part mystery, part police procedural and part action thriller.