News

ARCTIC CHILL

By Arnaldur Indridason, translated by Bernard Scudder, Random House Canada, 344 pages, $32

Arctic Chill is the fifth translation in the superb Erlendur series, set in Reykjavik, and, if you're not already a devotee of Indridason's moody beautifully constructed novels, it's high time you read one.

In fact, I read Arctic Chill twice in one week; once just for the pleasure of the artful and exquisitely structured plot, and a second time for all the nuance I missed the first time. This is a crime novel, but it's also a story about a society confronting change and diversity, and Indridason makes both stories work seamlessly.

Inspectors Erlendur, Elinborg and Sigurdur Oli are called to a crime scene in the middle of January. The victim is a 10-year-old boy, of mixed race, and he has obviously been murdered. Why anyone would kill a schoolboy is the first question the police team asks; a second lurks behind it: Was he killed because he wasn't a white Icelander?

Indridason uses the investigation by Erlendur to explore the complex issues of immigrants in a small and heretofore closed society. We also learn more about Erlendur's personal history, especially his vexed relationship with his children.

As in the first four books, Indridason cleverly weaves Icelandic history and social development into the story, and we learn a lot about a self-sufficient and somewhat smug society faced with change.

Arctic Chill is a brilliant novel by a master.

WHISPER TO THE BLOOD

By Dana Stabenow, St. Martin's, 304 pages, $27.95

There are now 15 Kate Shugak novels in this excellent series set in backwoods Alaska, and rather than losing steam, Stabenow is building it. Whisper to the Blood is the best Shugak so far, building on the same characters and relationships as earlier novels, but with a storyline that moves from her previous best, A Deeper Sleep, to answer some leftover questions.

The park-enclosed hamlet of Niniltna, and the great national park itself, are on the cusp of change. The world's second-largest gold-mining company has come to town, offering jobs and cash — and a huge open-pit mine that company representatives promise won't interrupt the salmon run or the caribou hunt. To sell the project, they've hired a genuine Alaskan celebrity, Talia Macleod, Olympic biathlon champion. She's beautiful and smart, and she knows how to win the hearts and minds of the Park Rats. But there are problems afoot.

Kate Shugak has been dragooned into serving as the temporary president of the Niniltna Native Association. Her gentleman friend, Alaska state trooper Jim Chopin, has a spate of attacks on locals to contend with. And there's the hangover from the murder of the late and unlamented Louis Deems. Everyone is sure that change is coming to this tough little corner of the northern frontier, and the Park Rats all have opinions. Then someone is murdered.

Stabenow is terrific at building a story, and keeping the suspense tight and the story moving. I love her descriptions of local life, the cast of eccentric but believable characters, and the glimpses of this stunningly beautiful part of the world.

CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT

By Earl Emerson, Ballantine, 353 pages, $28

It's been 10 years since the last Thomas Black novel, and I, for one, have missed the Seattle sleuth. When last seen, he was the victim of a bomb blast, possibly dead. But it's not Black who's dead. It's his wife, Kathy.

Black's body and mind are damaged by the bomb, and his recovery is slow. After his release from the hospital, he tries to rebuild his life. Then he thinks he sees Kathy. But she's dead. He gets a call in the middle of the night from her cellphone, which is supposed to be on the bottom of the ocean. Is it madness, hope or something far worse?

Emerson takes us on a ride that's full of questions and thrills. This is the best Black ever, and worth the 10-year wait.

AMONG THE MAD

By Jacqueline Winspear, Henry Holt, 320 pages, $28

London at the beginning of the Great Depression is a time for true madness, and Maisie Dobbs is facing all of it. First, there's her devoted assistant Billy Beale, whose wife has never recovered from the death of their child. Depression and melancholy are never far away.

Then, on Christmas Eve, 1931, Maisie sees a suicide on the street. Times are certainly bad, but personal misery is just the beginning. A madman is threatening to kill thousands, and he implicates Maisie in his plan. She soon finds herself attached to Scotland Yard with a team of coppers who must find the maniac in time to save the innocent. It appears the Maisie holds a clue. Trouble is, she doesn't know what it is. This is definitely one of Winspear's best.

THE SECOND OPINION

By Michael Palmer, St. Martin's, 384 pages, $17.95

That clever old dog Cornell Woolrich knew how to scare the liver out of readers. When pressed, he could spin a yarn about someone who was "locked in," paralyzed and mute, able to understand everything going on but unable to communicate a word.

In Woolrich's world, the victim usually heard someone planning his or her demise. In this slick medical thriller, Petros Sperelakis knows about a terrifying plot that can affect thousands. His devoted daughter, Dr. Thea Sperelakis, is at his side. She's not convinced that the "accident" that sent him to a hospital in a coma was so accidental. Can he somehow tell Thea his secret?

This is a splendid novel for a snowy weekend.

THE DESERT CONTRACT

By John Lathrop, Scribner, 301 pages, $28.99

The modern Middle East is the perfect setting for a high-action thriller, and Calgarian John Lathrop takes us there in this sizzling debut. The setting is Saudi Arabia, on the cusp of revolution, as a man tries to put together one last big financial deal and escape with the woman he loves.

Lathrop lived for several years in the Middle East, and it shows. His knowledge of the area and its customs makes a solid foundation for the story. His central character, businessman Steve Kemp, works well, too, and the ins and outs of the big deal Kemp is planning to salvage his fortune and career keep the action moving.

Kemp's long-time romance doesn't work as well as the political and action parts. Like a lot of first-time authors, Lathrop packs a few too many subplots into the book. Still, that's a minor flaw in a really good political action novel. Lathrop is definitely one to watch.