Margins
Kate Shugak book cover 1
Kate Shugak book cover 2
Kate Shugak book cover 3
Kate Shugak
Series · 29
books · 1992-2023

Books in series

Nooses Give book cover
#0.5

Nooses Give

2011

"The bodies had fallen around the table like three cards from a spent deck. Jeremy Mike, the jack of spades. Sally Jorgenson, queen of hearts. Ted Muktoyuk, the king of diamonds." A person has to be pretty drunk to play Russian roulette. And usually a person has to work pretty hard to get drunk in a dry Native village. Most of the words Kate has for “bootlegger” are unprintable. A short story.
A Cold Day for Murder book cover
#1

A Cold Day for Murder

1992

Eighteen months ago, Aleut Kate Shugak quit her job investigating sex crimes for the Anchorage DA's office and retreated to her father's homestead in a national park in the interior of Alaska. But the world has a way of beating a path to her door, however remote. In the middle of one of the bitterest Decembers in recent memory ex-boss - and ex-lover - Jack Morgan shows up with an FBI agent in tow. A Park ranger with powerful relatives is missing, and now the investigator Jack sent in to look for him is missing, too. Reluctantly, Kate, along with Mutt, her half-wolf, half-husky sidekick, leaves her wilderness refuge to follow a frozen trail through the Park, twenty thousand square miles of mountain and tundra sparsely populated with hunters, fishermen, trappers, mushers, pilots and homesteaders. Her formidable grandmother and Native chief, Ekaterina Shugak, is - for reasons of her own - against Kate's investigation; her cousin, Martin, may be Kate's prime suspect; and the local trooper, Jim Chopin, is more interested in Kate than in her investigation. In the end, the sanctuary she sought after five and a half years in the urban jungles may prove more lethal than anything she left behind in the city streets of Anchorage.
A Fatal Thaw book cover
#2

A Fatal Thaw

1993

On her homestead in the middle of twenty million acres of national Park, Aleut P.I. Kate Shugak is caught up in spring cleaning, unaware that just miles away a man's sanity is breaking. When the sound of gunfire finally dies away, nine of his neighbors lie dead in the snow. But did he kill all nine, or only eight? The ninth victim was killed with a different weapon. It's up to Kate and her husky-wolf sidekick Mutt to untangle the life of the dead blonde with the tarnished past and find her killer. It won't be easy; every second Park rat had a motive. Was it one of her many spurned lovers? Was a wife looking for revenge? Or did a deal with an ivory smuggler go bad? Even Trooper Jim Chopin, the Park's resident state trooper, had a history with the victim. Kate will need every ounce of determination to find the truth before Alaska metes out its own justice....
Dead in the Water book cover
#3

Dead in the Water

1993

Once, Kate Shugak was the star investigator of the Anchorage D.A.'s office. Now she's gone back to her Aleut roots in the far Alaska north- where her talent for detection makes her the toughest crime-tracker in that stark and mysterious land. Two crewmen of the crab vessel Avilda are missing—presumed dead—under very suspicious circumstances. The Bering Sea offers ample means and opportunity, but without bodies, a motive, or evidence of foul play, the DA doesn’t have a case. And so, freelancing again for her former employer, Kate Shugak finds herself working undercover in one of Alaska’s most dangerous professions: crab fisherman. It’s an assignment that will take her from the debauchery of Dutch Harbor to the most isolated of the Aleutians, and if the job itself doesn’t kill her, her unsavory crewmates just might. Third in Stabenow’s Edgar Award-winning series of Alaskan mysteries, Dead in the Water is richly informed by the author’s own upbringing aboard an Alaskan fishing vessel.
A Cold-Blooded Business book cover
#4

A Cold-Blooded Business

1994

Once, Kate Shugak was the star investigator of the Anchorage D.A.'s office. Now she's gone back to her Aleut roots in the far Alaska north - where her talent for detection makes her the toughest crime-tracker in that stark and mysterious land... Work hard, play hard. That's the credo on the oilfields of Alaska's North Slope, where harsh conditions and long, isolated shifts make for some of the best-paid jobs in the state. Management typically turns a blind eye to off-hours drinking and gambling, but a spate of drug-related deaths means it's time for Royal Petroleum to get its house in order. Working on behalf of the Anchorage DA, Kate Shugak is brought in undercover to identify the dealer and shut down the flow of cocaine. Of course, the dealer might have some very different ideas. Informed by her own years working on the North Slope, Dana Stabenow's A Cold-Blooded Business captures a slice of life in a very Alaskan milieu.
Play With Fire book cover
#5

Play With Fire

1995

Former D.A. investigator Kate Shugak gets caught up in a case involving a corpse she finds in the Alaskan woodlands, leading her to an isolated religious settlement and onto a trail of twisted lies, secrets, and suspicions. Reprint.
Blood Will Tell book cover
#6

Blood Will Tell

1996

At the request of her grandmother, a matriarch of her Aleut clan, Kate Shugak travels to Anchorage to investigate the mysterious deaths of several Council members just before a crucial meeting to determine the fate of some disputed tribal lands
Breakup book cover
#7

Breakup

1997

During spring thaw in Alaska, what the locals call "breakup," a dead body is uncovered near Kate's home, and when a deadly bear attack raises suspicions against her, she finds herself drawn into the path of a murderer. Reprint.
Killing Grounds book cover
#8

Killing Grounds

1998

Lending a hand on a salmon boat under the Alaskan summer sun, Kate Shugak reels in some unusual suspects in the murder of a roundly despised commercial fisherman, including his troubled teenaged son and his less-than-grief-stricken widow. Reprint.
Hunter's Moon book cover
#9

Hunter's Moon

1999

The death of one of the German tourists in the hunting party she is leading through the Alaskan wilderness finds guide Kat Shugak fighting for her life against a determined killer. Reprint.
Midnight Come Again book cover
#10

Midnight Come Again

2000

Edgar Award winner Dana Stabenow has written nine atmospheric crime novels featuring the very prickly, very human Kate Shugak, but her novels also have a scene-stealing costar: Alaska, unforgiving, breathtaking, dangerous, and beautiful. Stabenow's evocation of this wilderness, combined with her talent for bringing characters to life and creating knuckle-whitening suspense, has made her "one of the strongest voices in crime fiction." ("Seattle Times"). Now in "Midnight Come Again," all these elements come together for Stabenow's most compelling Kate Shugak novel to date. Kate, a former investigator for the Anchorage D.A. and now a P.I. for hire, is missing after a winter spent in mourning. Alaska State Trooper Jim Chopin, Kate's best friend, needs her to help him work a new case. He discovers her hiding out in Bering, a small fishing village on Alaska's western coast, living and working under an assumed name—working hard, as eighteen-hour workdays seem to be her only justification for getting up in the morning. But before they can even discuss Kate's last several months, or what Jim is doing looking for her in Bering, they're up to their eyes in Jim's case, which is suddenly more complicated—and more dangerous—than they suspected. A magnificent crime novel about life in America's last wilderness, the heart-wrenching grief that goes with love, and murder, "Midnight Come Again" is Dana Stabenow's best novel to date.
The Singing of the Dead book cover
#11

The Singing of the Dead

2001

Kate Shugak joins the staff of a political campaign to work security for a Native woman running for state senator. The candidate has been receiving anonymous threats, and Kate is to become her shadow, watching the crowds at rallies and fund-raisers. But just as she's getting started, the campaign is rocked by the murder of their staff researcher. To track the killer, Kate will have to delve into the past, in particular the grisly murder of a 'good-time girl' during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1915. Little can she guess the impact a ninety-year-old unsolved case might have on a modern-day psychotic killer...
A Fine and Bitter Snow book cover
#12

A Fine and Bitter Snow

2002

Change never comes easy so when the news breaks that the new administration oil might be drilling for oil soon 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" for them 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...
A Grave Denied book cover
#13

A Grave Denied

2003

mystery
Under the Influence book cover
#13.5

Under the Influence

2011

Kate solves the 75-year old murder of an Anchorage police chief. A short short story.
Wreck Rights book cover
#13.6

Wreck Rights

2011

Paul Kameroff was found at the bottom of an icy hill, hands and ankles neatly bound, with a bullet hole in the back of his head. They don't think it was suicide. A short story
A Taint in the Blood book cover
#14

A Taint in the Blood

2004

Thirty-one years ago in Anchorage, Alaska, Victoria Pilz Bannister Muravieff was convicted of murdering her seventeen-year-old son William. The jury returned a quick verdict of guilty, believing the prosecutor's claims that she had set fire to her own home with both her sons inside; William died and the other, Oliver, narrowly escaped. Victoria was sentenced to life in prison without parole, and though she pled not guilty at the trial, she never again denied her guilt. Now her daughter, Charlotte Muravieff, has hired Kate Shugak to clear her mother's name. Her daughter has always believed in her innocence, and now that Victoria has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Charlotte wants her free. Kate is the only p.i. Charlotte can find who's willing to take such a long-shot case. Kate, on the other hand, is only willing because she's suddenly a single parent to a teenager, a teenager she hopes will decide to go to college. Besides, it can't be bad to do a favor for the Bannister family, one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in Alaska's short history. As Kate begins an investigation, Victoria protests, refusing to cooperate. But soon it seems she isn't the only one who wants to leave the past in the past. In this spell-binding novel, Kate's confrontation with thirty years of secrets and regret-and murder-in one of Alaska's most powerful families shows award-winning crime writer Dana Stabenow at the top of her game.
A Deeper Sleep book cover
#15

A Deeper Sleep

2006

KATE SHUGAK is a native Aleut working as a private investigator in Alaska. She's 5 foot 1 inch tall, carries a scar that runs from ear to ear across her throat and owns half-wolf, half-husky dog named Mutt. Resourceful, strong-willed, defiant, Kate is tougher than your average heroine – and she needs to be to survive the worst the Alaskan wilds can throw at her. A DEEPER SLEEP: Kate Shugak is determined to convict the odious Louis Deem, who has been arrested and tried for several serious crimes but never convicted. This time, Kate is convinced, it will be different. But when the jury returns a verdict of not guilty, Kate believes that Deem has literally got away with murder. And when, a few weeks later, two people are killed after an apparent robbery, Kate can't help but believe that Deem is involved...
Conspiracy book cover
#15.5

Conspiracy

2011

The brothers Grosdidier are the farthest thing from gentle souls, but as EMTs, they’re the closest thing The Park has to doctors. Living together in the state of chaotic disarray that is the bachelor's birthright, they little suspect the fate that others are preparing for them.
Whisper to the Blood book cover
#16

Whisper to the Blood

2009

A mining company has discovered a rich mineral deposit in Alaska's enormous Iqaluk Wildlife Refuge. Politicos see dollar signs for the state, but Ninilta residents, who live near the proposed site, are split: Will outsiders take the jobs? Will the environment be harmed by pollution? Will roads disintegrate . . . tourists invade? As the new chairperson of Ninilta's Native Association, a job she never wanted, Kate is embarassingly ill-equipped to handle the questions. Nor is she prepared when two individuals associated with the company turn up dead. Kate Shugak is a native Aleut working as a private investigator in Alaska. She's 5 foot 1 inch tall, carries a scar that runs from ear to ear across her throat and owns half-wolf, half-husky dog named Mutt. Resourceful, strong-willed, defiant, Kate is tougher than your average heroine - and she needs to be to survive the worst the Alaskan wilds can throw at her.
A Night Too Dark book cover
#17

A Night Too Dark

2010

In Alaska, somebody disappears every day. Hunters who head into the wilderness… Fishermen who brave the great rivers…Tourists who attempt to do both. In Aleut detective Kate Shugak’s Park, people have been falling off the grid quite a bit lately. And as she and state trooper Jim Chopin are about to realize, it’s got something to do with the recent discovery of the world’s second-largest gold mine in their very own backyard. A hostile environmental activist organization has embraced Alaska’s Suulutaq Mine as its reason for being, attracting more attention than many of the locals can tolerate. So it’s almost a relief when Kate finally finds a body—this, more than politics, she can handle. Until the identity of the body vanishes, too… Now it’s up to Kate and Jim to dig deeper into the mining controversy and find the truth about what’s going on in her homeland. Even if that means facing down an enemy who will kill to keep certain secrets buried…
Cherchez la Femme book cover
#17.5

Cherchez la Femme

2011

There’s one in every village. They don’t have to be young, they don’t even have to be pretty, but there is one woman in every Alaskan village whose very presence short circuits something in the nervous system of the male of the species, resulting all too often in events that spiral into intervention on the part of a professional peace officer. In Niniltna, it was Dulcey Kineen. Emphasis, it seems, on the was. A short story.
Though Not Dead book cover
#18

Though Not Dead

2011

The residents of Alaska’s largest national park are stunned by the death of one of their oldest members, eighty-seven-year-old Sam Dementieff…even investigator Kate Shugak. Sam, a lifelong resident, was dubbed the “father” of all of the Park rats—even though he had no children of his own. Kate, his niece, is surprised to discover that in his will he’s left her everything, including a letter instructing her simply to, “find my father.” In the three days after Kate begins her search through Sam’s background, she gets threatened—and worse. Kate struggles to fulfill Sam’s last wish without losing her own life to the people who are following her every move. Long-lost family secrets and fatal consequences are interwoven with the epic history of an unforgiving land.
Restless in the Grave book cover
#19

Restless in the Grave

2012

New York Times bestseller Dana Stabenow returns with her most outstanding novel yet, teaming up two of her most beloved characters, Aleut private investigator Kate Shugak and Alaska state trooper Liam Campbell, in the same story for the first time. Alaska aviation entrepreneur Finn Grant died in the fiery crash of his Piper Super Cub. Someone sabotaged his engine, and virtually everyone in southwestern Alaska has a motive, including his betrayed wife, his bullied children, and Liam’s wife, bush pilot Wyanet Chouinard. With few places to turn, Liam asks his former mentor Niniltna post commander Sergeant Jim Chopin, for help, and Jim quickly brings Kate onto the case. Working undercover as—of all things—a waitress at Bill’s Bar and Grill, Kate learns over beer and burgers that Grant’s business had expanded meteorically over the last two years. After buying the closed Air Force base south of town from the federal government at a bargain-basement price, he became a fixed-base operator running his fishing, hunting, and flight-seeing business, servicing planes flying through the area, and most interestingly and lucratively, getting into the air freight business. But what kind of freight was he moving, and where? The answers involve Kate in her most challenging case to date, one that starts with murder and quickly sprawls into a much larger conspiracy ranging from the darkest family secrets to treason and beyond. Restless in the Grave is a treat for fans and another outstanding addition to Dana Stabenow’s acclaimed and award-winning series.
Any Taint of Vice book cover
#19.5

Any Taint of Vice

A Kate Shugak Story

2012

PI Kate Shugak is pulled into the mean streets of the Anchorage underworld to find Alyeska University president Victor Boatright's missing son Carl. A short story. http://us.macmillan.com/anytaintofvic...
Bad Blood book cover
#20

Bad Blood

2013

KATE SHUGAK is a native Aleut working as a private investigator in Alaska. She's 5 foot 1 inch tall, carries a scar that runs from ear to ear across her throat and owns half-wolf, half-husky dog named Mutt. Resourceful, strong-willed, defiant, Kate is tougher than your average heroine - and she needs to be to survive the worst the Alaskan wilds can throw at her. BAD BLOOD: One hundred years of bad blood between two Alaskan villages come to a boil when the body of a young Kushtaka man is found wedged in a fish wheel. Sergeant Jim Chopin's prime suspect is a Kuskulana man who is already in trouble in both villages for falling in love across the river. But when he disappears, both tribes refuse to speak to Jim - so when there's a second murder which looks suspiciously like payback, Jim calls on Kate Shugak for help. Now Kate must untangle the village tales of tragedy and revenge if she is to find the truth before it's too late...
Less Than a Treason book cover
#21

Less Than a Treason

2017

KATE SHUGAK is a native Aleut working as a private investigator in Alaska. She's 5 foot 1 inch tall, carries a scar that runs from ear to ear across her throat and owns a half-wolf, half-husky dog named Mutt. Resourceful, strong-willed, defiant, Kate is tougher than your average heroine – and she needs to be to survive the worst the Alaskan wilds can throw at her. Two thousand people go missing in Alaska every year. They vanish in the middle of mountain footraces, on fishing boats in the Bering Sea, on small planes in the Bush. Now a geologist known for going walkabout with his rock hammer has disappeared from the Suulutaq Mine in the Park. Was it deliberate? An accident? Foul play? Kate Shugak may be the only person who can find out. But for the fact that Kate, too, is now among the missing…
No Fixed Line book cover
#22

No Fixed Line

2020

It is New Year’s Eve, nearly six weeks into an off-and-on blizzard that has locked Alaska down, effectively cutting it off from the outside world. But now there are reports of a plane down in the Quilak mountains. With the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board—responsible for investigating aviation incidents) unable to reach the crash site, ex-Trooper Jim Chopin is pulled out of retirement to try to identify the aircraft, collect the corpses, and determine why no flight has been reported missing. But Jim discovers survivors: two children who don’t speak a word of English. Meanwhile, PI Kate Shugak receives an unexpected and unwelcome accusation from beyond the grave, a charge that could change the face of the Park forever.
Not the Ones Dead book cover
#23

Not the Ones Dead

2023

The gripping new Kate Shugak novel by New York Times bestselling author Dana Stabenow. What seems a tragic accident soon becomes a murder investigation as Kate is drawn into a case of political intrigue. A mid-air collision in the Alaskan wilderness between two small aircraft leaves ten people dead. Was it a bird strike, pilot error... or premeditated murder? Then an eleventh body is found in the wreckage: a man shot gangland style, twice in the chest and once in the head. In an investigation that reaches to the highest levels of government, justice may not be served, but Kate Shugak is determined that the truth will out, even at the risk of her life and the lives of those she loves most.

Author

Dana Stabenow
Dana Stabenow
Author · 58 books
Dana Stabenow was born in Anchorage and raised on 75-foot fish tender in the Gulf of Alaska. She knew there was a warmer, drier job out there somewhere.
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