Dollycas's Thoughts
As winter begins in Alaska, tour guide Stacie Calder switches from being a boat tour guide to working with the wildlife team at the wild animal sanctuary, Juneau Wildlife World. She has received special permission to have her Husky dog, Sasha accompany her in her tasks as long as she adheres to a set of rules created by the executive director of the sanctuary. The new manager, Oliver Brownling is not happy with the arrangement and makes it known every time he sees her. His complaints stopped when his mangled body was found in the wolf area of the sanctuary. But it wasn't a wolf that killed the man, no that task was performed by a human, and the Alaska State Troopers have decided to focus on Stacie.
Stacie knows she needs to find other options for the authorities and even her boyfriend Officer Liam Amaruq agrees. It has to be someone who works at the sanctuary, and that the victim rubbed many people the wrong way, but who was pushed far enough to kill the man in such a brutal way? Will Stacie flush out the killer or will she be their next victim?
I had hoped to see more development of the characters from the first book, Bear Witness, in this book so I was surprised that Stacie was working another job. With the exception of just a few characters, the book introduced us to a bunch of new characters. Lettie, Stacie's assistant on the boat tours is now volunteering at the animal sanctuary. Stacie's relationship with Officer Liam Amaruq is struggling especially with her being a murder suspect. Stacy does know all about animals and had volunteered at the sanctuary in the past so her new job makes sense but I want to know all three of these characters better and all the supporting characters too.
The death of Oliver Brownling set up an interesting mystery with the suspect pool that included everyone who worked at the Juneau Wildlife World. Stacie really tried to investigate but her interviewing technique needs work. She made clear that she was investigating and when her first round of interviews yielded nada, she became like a bull in a china shop accusing everyone including the killer. It was no surprise she ended up in a horrendous situation but I was surprised by who it was with. Again, the author dropped clues at a slower pace and even held some back until we were in the thick of the reveal and that truly kept me guessing. The killer's plan was diabolical and scary but the motive was not as deep as I had expected. Sometimes it doesn't take much to push a person to murder.
The setting for this series is fantastic. I enjoyed the detailed descriptions the author provided about the sanctuary and its animals and the Alaskan weather too. There was a bit of repetition because of the nature of Stacie's job of checking on the animals each day and the tracks through the woods. I was really drawn to the job of prepping and delivering the different foods for the animals in the cold winter months when they can't forage for themselves. It is a huge job.
Cry Wolf was an enjoyable wildlife-themed story with characters I long to know better set in a beautiful place where conditions can be extreme. I am wondering what Ms. Jensen has planned for her characters next. Will Stacie still be working at the sanctuary? or will she be back doing boat tours? or will Stacie be off on a new adventure? I am excited to find out.
As winter begins in Alaska, tour guide Stacie Calder switches from being a boat tour guide to working with the wildlife team at the wild animal sanctuary, Juneau Wildlife World. She has received special permission to have her Husky dog, Sasha accompany her in her tasks as long as she adheres to a set of rules created by the executive director of the sanctuary. The new manager, Oliver Brownling is not happy with the arrangement and makes it known every time he sees her. His complaints stopped when his mangled body was found in the wolf area of the sanctuary. But it wasn't a wolf that killed the man, no that task was performed by a human, and the Alaska State Troopers have decided to focus on Stacie.
Stacie knows she needs to find other options for the authorities and even her boyfriend Officer Liam Amaruq agrees. It has to be someone who works at the sanctuary, and that the victim rubbed many people the wrong way, but who was pushed far enough to kill the man in such a brutal way? Will Stacie flush out the killer or will she be their next victim?
I had hoped to see more development of the characters from the first book, Bear Witness, in this book so I was surprised that Stacie was working another job. With the exception of just a few characters, the book introduced us to a bunch of new characters. Lettie, Stacie's assistant on the boat tours is now volunteering at the animal sanctuary. Stacie's relationship with Officer Liam Amaruq is struggling especially with her being a murder suspect. Stacy does know all about animals and had volunteered at the sanctuary in the past so her new job makes sense but I want to know all three of these characters better and all the supporting characters too.
The death of Oliver Brownling set up an interesting mystery with the suspect pool that included everyone who worked at the Juneau Wildlife World. Stacie really tried to investigate but her interviewing technique needs work. She made clear that she was investigating and when her first round of interviews yielded nada, she became like a bull in a china shop accusing everyone including the killer. It was no surprise she ended up in a horrendous situation but I was surprised by who it was with. Again, the author dropped clues at a slower pace and even held some back until we were in the thick of the reveal and that truly kept me guessing. The killer's plan was diabolical and scary but the motive was not as deep as I had expected. Sometimes it doesn't take much to push a person to murder.
The setting for this series is fantastic. I enjoyed the detailed descriptions the author provided about the sanctuary and its animals and the Alaskan weather too. There was a bit of repetition because of the nature of Stacie's job of checking on the animals each day and the tracks through the woods. I was really drawn to the job of prepping and delivering the different foods for the animals in the cold winter months when they can't forage for themselves. It is a huge job.
Cry Wolf was an enjoyable wildlife-themed story with characters I long to know better set in a beautiful place where conditions can be extreme. I am wondering what Ms. Jensen has planned for her characters next. Will Stacie still be working at the sanctuary? or will she be back doing boat tours? or will Stacie be off on a new adventure? I am excited to find out.
