Will I love The Woman Who Married a Bear?

I've been slowly reading through Straley's Alaskan mysteries for years. This is the first one, but they are all terrific. It is a vision of Alaska as a last best hope, a retreat, a disaster, a sanctuary, a black hole. The main character is an unsympathetic guy who nevertheless creates deep sympathy in the reader.

It’s no secret that I have a real fondness for Alaska–its landscape, people, and singular quirkiness. Southeast Alaska, where this novel is set, is its own idiosyncratic microcosm.

The bars for serious drinking, the sideways rain, the grab bag of misfit characters–is John Straley at his best in this novel. In his no-holds-barred yet fond portrayal of Alaska, where his protagonist spends most of his days in an alcoholic but observant haze, the 49th state is like a walk-on character actor who ends up eating the scenery.