The Kate Shugak Novels, Vol. 3

Kate Shugak, former investigator for the Anchorage DA, returns in this omnibus edition containing books seven through nine of the award-winning series. Breakup is set during that uniquely Alaskan time of year when the winter's snow is turning into a slushy mud, the rivers are rising, the grizzlies are waking, and taxes are coming due. It's the time of year when it seems that if something can go wrong, it will, which for Kate inevitably means getting involved in a murder investigation. Or two. Killing Grounds finds Kate working aboard a fish tender, earning some extra money through seasonal labor. Her job becomes much more complicated when a man's body washes up — widely known as an abusive, womanizing, anti-union all-around not-very-nice guy, it seems that just about everyone could have a motive to kill him. Even members of Kate's own family. In Hunter's Moon, Kate accepts a contract to guide a party of vacationing computer executives on an Alaska hunting retreat. It's a tense and unpleasant group to begin with, but when the fog rolls in and people start dying, it becomes apparent that there's very little accidental about anything that's happening. Survival is the name of the game. Also included: the short stories "Under the Influence" and "Conspiracy