Sometimes I get in the mood for a specific type of book. Recently, it’s been mysteries. But not cozies. Sorry cozy authors. My grandmother may love you, but you’re generally not my thing. I’d much rather have blood and guts and action. Kinda like the opposite of my life.

Anyway.

In my search for something I like, I stumbled upon Dana Stabenow‘s Kate Shugak series.

I’d read anthologies edited by Dana Stabenow, but had no idea she wrote mysteries, so when I stumbled across A Taint in the Blood I decided to pick it up and see if I liked it.

I did.

Kate Shugak lives in “The Park” in Alaska. Earlier in the series apparently she lived in Anchorage working for law enforcement, but at the point I wandered into the series she’d moved back to Niniltna and was working occasional investigations as her services were needed.

She’s a strong and independent woman who decides what she wants and goes after it. My favorite kind of heroine. She’s got flaws, and she recognizes this fact, but doesn’t let that keep her from being herself.

She’s also not afraid to bend the law in her search for justice. That always makes for an interesting moral dilemma when well done.

The secondary characters are also well done–they are distinct personalities, and I can usually tell by the dialog which characters are which. Always a strength in any book.

Now I’ve got a thing about series. I don’t often like to go backwards in a series (unless the series is written in such a way that book order is immaterial) and seeing that there were Bad Things in Kate’s past made me even more reluctant to go back in the series. However, after having read forward as far as I could, I decided to go back to just after the Very Bad Thing and work my way forward. That worked out quite well, except for the fact that I am now, once again, out of Kate Shugak books to read.

Grandmom hasn’t read any of these books yet, and I’m not sure if she will or not. There is boinking–although not a lot, and it’s not an all consuming part of the story. I think she might like them though; we’ll have to see.

The other nice thing about this series is that you can easily pick up any book and start the series. Kate does grow and change through the series, but you are given enough background that you don’t get lost without knowledge of what has gone previously. Again, another sign of good writing.

I have no idea how her portrayal of Alaska is–Dana Stabenow obviously loves where she lives–and I almost don’t want to know, because the mysteries are thoroughly enjoyable, and if they’re not as good as I hope, I don’t think I want to know.

Kate Shugak: Midnight Come Again (2000), The Singing of the Dead (2001), A Fine and Bitter Snow (2002), A Grave Denied (2003), A Taint in the Blood (2004), A Deeper Sleep (2007)