"Great mystery"

Over three decades ago in Alaska, wealthy Victoria Pilz Bannister Muravieff was convicted of murdering her oldest son William by setting a fire to their home; her other son Oliver escaped by jumping out a window. At the time of her conviction Victoria insisted she was innocent, but once in jail accepted her lot stoically.

Now Victoria is dying from uterine cancer and her daughter Charlotte, who believes her mom is innocent, wants her to come home. Her only hope is to learn what happened on that fatal day. No Anchorage based sleuth will touch the case so she travels to the wilderness to persuade Kate Shugak to find out who set the fire. Kate accepts the job because the fee is too great to refuse. Talking about refusal, Victoria wants no part of the investigation refusing to assist Kate. As the sleuth continues to dig up information, someone else wants Victoria left behind bars until she dies and that person will kill to keep what happened secret thirty-one years ago.

Shugak's fourteenth Alaska mystery is an enjoyable tale as every new piece of evidence that Kate finds confirms the conviction and the key "witness" will not help her own cause. The story line also contains a romantic subplot, but that detours the reader away from the prime did she really do it. When Kate stays within the course of her investigation, the audience receives a powerful tale of family secrets to include murder and blackmail and a look back at Anchorage that makes the love subplot pale. Fans of the series will appreciate this solid sleuthing tale.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted August 22, 2004

Summary

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.