Stacie is a tour guide, introducing people to Alaskan wildlife from a boat. When a man vanishes from the tour, she thinks he’s stowed away to cause trouble. But when his body is discovered out amid the ice floes, she realizes that there is something far worse at play.
I really wanted to like this book. The premise sounds so cool and so eerie, the idea of a body bobbing out in the frigid Alaskan waters. Unfortunately the story goes downhill from there.
My main issue was the character of Stacie. She felt rather flat, and it seemed like her only interests were her job and wildlife, and this interest is rather more told than shown to the reader. I also did not like her narrative voice, which was oddly chirpy and hollow. Sasha, her beloved dog, also doesn’t make an impact, despite being present in nearly every scene of the story. Apart from barking at crucial moments in the story, she mostly toddles along with Stacie with nary a trace of personality.
The mystery was also very disappointing. In a course of events that beg great suspension of belief, Liam, the detective investigating the case, allows Stacie to help out, excusing it because his is an ‘unconventional’ office. Stacie mostly does this by badgering her coworkers about their ideas about the crime in a ham-fisted fashion. There was nary a clue to be found in this story until the last thirty pages, and even then the solution to the case is incredibly unsatisfactory.
The less said about the romance, the better. Stacie and Liam develop a relationship, but again the writing was so flat that I did not feel any attraction between them – and I don’t understand why Liam would get into a sexual relationship with a potential suspect. It was very frustrating and the story could have done without it.
Do not recommend.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
