Book description
The First Cecil Younger investigation set in Sitka, Alaska
Cecil Younger, local Alaskan investigator, is neither good at his job nor great at staying sober. When an old Tlingit woman, unimpressed by the police’s investigation, hires him to discover why her son, a big game guide, was murdered, he takes…
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Why read it?
2 authors picked The Woman Who Married a Bear as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
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.
From Kerri's list on mystery where the setting is a character.
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A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
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