Book Review: Fire And Ice

Reviewed By: Lynn Harnett

Fire And Ice     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Dana Stabenow
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Series: Liam Campbell # 1
Dutton, Oct. 1998

In Edgar Award-winner Stabenow’s first Liam Campbell mystery the Alaska State Police Officer lands, literally, in his first murder case before he reports for duty at his new remote posting. Terrified of flying in a place where flying is the only way to get around, Liam stumbles off the plane in Newenham, along the shores of Bristol Bay, to discover a body nearly decapitated by the prop of a fish-spotter plane.

the deceased, Bob DeCreft, was a herring spotter who flew with Wyanet Chouinard, owner of the murder weapon plane and the only woman Liam has ever loved passionately. They separated three years previously because Liam was married, with a young son. But a drunk driver killed his son and put his wife in an irreversible coma. Then five people died in an accident on Liam’s watch and his career was blighted, leading to demotion and the Newenham posting.

Still reeling from his reunion with Wyanet – and the murder – Liam is carried off by the mayor to deal with a shooting at the local bar and grill. Returning to the murder site, he has a steamy scene with Wyanet and then is knocked unconscious by an intruder who vandalizes her plane.

And so the breathless pace is set. Full of the sort of eccentrics who might well populate a frozen outpost in Alaska, the novel plunges into the social by-play and open secrets that keep small town life hopping. Add to this the cutthroat mayhem of the brief, high-stakes herring season – including Liam’s stint as a spotter, easily the book’s most harrowing, breathtaking scene - an edgy complex love affair, and the uncomfortable plight of native Alaskans, and you have a fast-paced, thoughtful story that will leave readers looking forward to Liam’s next outing.

Lynn Harnett

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Lynn Harnett