Change never comes easy, so when the news breaks that the new administration might soon be drilling for oil in a wildlife preserve in southeastern Alaska, home to P.I. Kate Shugak, battle lines are quickly drawn across the community. But for Kate, who hasn't been able to get back into her daily life ever since her lover's violent death a few months ago, it's a welcome reprieve from doing nothing. Tensions run high when Kate's friend and chief park ranger, Dan O'Brien, is deemed "too green" by management and asked to take early retirement. Kate rallies the troops to fight for his job, but before she can really start throwing her weight around, a longtime resident is found brutally murdered. Alaska State Trooper Jim Chopin enlists Kate in the investigation, and it isn't long before she discovers that when it comes to the beauty and danger of living and dying in Alaska, nothing is as simple as it seems...
Two friends of Kate's grandmother are brutally attacked in their cabin on their eco-retreat - as Kate investigates she once more finds out that the actions of the present often hinge on the decisions of the past. Well done book, critical character development for long term fans.
News breaks that the new administration might soon be drilling for oil in southeast Alaska; Kate, still suffering, Dan O'Brian needs help keeping his job and she has to help Jim out.....