A Fatal Thaw by Dana Stabenow

I am so glad that I gave the Kate Shugak another chance. I liked the first book in the series but I liked this installment a lot more.

Kate is still coming to terms with the events that took place in the last book. However new horrors await her as a murderer goes on a killing spree, murdering innocent people in cold blood. Kate with the help of her ever faithful compainion the husky/wolf mix Mutt manages to apprehend the suspect.

It isn't until later when her off/on lover Jack Morgan comes to visit her in her cabin that she learns the truth. One of the victims wasn't killed by the murderer. That killer is still free.

So we follow Kate along the way as she solves another murder. I must say this book in the series had a stronger plot than the first. I found Kate to be more likeable unlike the previous novel wear she was cold all the way through.

I enjoyed how the author had her interacting with people more and I love how she added humour to this novel. In the first book things felt forced but now I'm really getting into the flow.

I'm glad Kate is such a strong, independant, intelligent lead. All to often in "cozy mysteries" the female lead turns out to be a ditz. It is a played out theme that I'm becoming increasingly more irritated with.

So in short, for a 200 page mystery this one is ranked pretty high. The only fault I have with it is that it was still a little rushed but what can you do when it comes to a book of this length.

I do recommend these books to people who like "cozy mysteries" and my final rating is 4 stars. Come on people give them a go!