Kent Reed books

A Cold Day For Murder: a review by Kent Reed

Book: A cold day for murder

Author: Dana Stabenow

Good day fellow reeder! 

I’ve accomplished the impossible task of finishing a book. The book in question being “A cold day for murder”. This has been my first time reading a Detective/Mystery book(full length). The honor of the first Detective/Mystery story unfortunately goes to “The Murders In The Rue Morgue”. Although that’s a review for another day. When I originally picked this at random from the library I looked at the summary on the side of the book. When I read the words Alaska, Kate Shugak, Missing park ranger, HALF WOLF HALF HUSKY SIDEKICK! I thought: “This would be the perfect book for my wife”. She ended up rejecting the book, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to put it back. One book later I do not regret my decision, I really enjoyed reading ACDFM.  

From the beginning the author manifested scenes into my head with ease. Not simply by describing the setting but by the various written reactions and visual cues of the characters in the book. Having to interpret intention and train of thought from visual descriptions as opposed to having it delivered from an internal monologue is a great way of keeping the reader engaged. Not that there are no internal monologues in this but it strikes a good balance, specially for a Detective/Mystery. A good mystery will give you the information you need to assemble a solution but withhold context in order to keep you scratching your head. ACDFM accomplishes this with a pretty brilliant setup. 

Kate Shugak must revisit her hometown to find 2 missing persons. When we first meet Kate, we don’t learn much about her besides her scar and the fact that she’s cranky.  Having Kate look for missing people in her home town allows us to learn more about her as she  investigates. Both learning about her past when speaking to the people close to her and better understanding the person she’s become with her actions. I suspected, when Kate was first introduced, that she would be angry, bitter, and antisocial. The standard recipe for a retired P.I. but I was pleasantly surprised. Kate is a damn goofball and I love her. 

Kate has been through hell and back yet has remained caring. She cares for her family and the community that lives around her. She’s a bit of an outcast but it’s not because she hates people. Rather it seems to stem from feeling like she doesn’t belong. A sentiment I’ve felt myself  growing up as an American of Mexican descent. Not American enough for the Americans, but too American for the Mexicans. Similarly Kate is at odds with the 2 worlds she is a part of. This among other things adds to the depth of her character. 

I know I’ve kept things a bit vague and that is by design. There’s plenty more I’d love to talk about in this book. Like the random product placement I found abrupt every time it appeared. Only to later realize that maybe that was the intention, showing Kate’s view of modern day capitalism slowly creeping into land once untouched by civilization. I could ramble on about small things like that but I’d be ruining the experience for you. The author does a great job putting these things in front of you. letting you observe and arrive at your own conclusion rather than writing it down and reciting it to you. If only there were a short and snappy way to describe this style of writing. Oh well… 

In conclusion, I very much recommend you read “A Cold Day For Murder” by Dana Stabenow. I had a lot of fun with it and I know you will too. 

About the doodle: 

I was going for kind of a fun perspective trying to match the weirdo energy that Kate and Mutt bring to the table but I don’t think I nailed it. I didn’t emphasize the perspective correctly and it just looks like Kate is super short. I’ll probably take another go at this someday cuz I really like these characters. Still not my worst drawing. 

Kate’s appearance is based on one of the variations of the book covers.