A Cold-Blooded Business (Kate Shugak Series #4)

by Dana Stabenow

Overview

The Edgar Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling series by Dana Stabenow set in Alaska. In A Cold Blooded Business, Kate Shugak investigates a drugs ring at an oil company – at great personal risk...

Prudhoe Bay, Alaska: population 2,000. Approximate number of families: zero. And America's largest oilfield...

In three months, the Prudhoe Bay oil operation has logged half a dozen drug overdoses, and one death: a man found floating face down in the company pool wearing full flight gear.

Now the Alaskan Royal Petroleum Company is in need of a discreet investigator on the inside. Someone who can navigate a flat-bed truck against Arctic wind at forty degrees below freezing and find out who is running a narcotic ring from within the company.

Sounds like a job for Kate Shugak...

Reviewers on Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series:

'An antidote to sugary female sleuths: Kate Shugak, the Aleut private investigator.' New York Times

'Crime fiction doesn't get much better than this.' Booklist

'If you are looking for something unique in the field of crime fiction, Kate Shugak is the answer.' Michael Connelly

'An outstanding series.' Washington Post

'One of the strongest voices in crime fiction.' Seattle Times

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781788549011
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/01/2018
Series:	Kate Shugak Series , #4
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	102,702
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Dana Stabenow was born in Anchorage, Alaska and raised on a 75-foot fishing tender. She knew there was a warmer, drier job out there somewhere and found it in writing. Her first book in the bestselling Kate Shugak series, A Cold Day for Murder, received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

Follow Dana at stabenow.com

Editorial Reviews

Stabenow's hardcover debut marks the fourth outing for Kate Shugak (last seen in Dead in the Water ), a native Aleut who is building a solid reputation as a tough freelance investigator. Although Kate has no love for the oil companies drilling in Alaska, she accepts a commission from Royal Petroleum Co. to find out who is bringing drugs into the Prudhoe Bay work site where there have been several overdoses and one death. Over the objections of RPetCo's security chief, Lou Childress, Kate goes in as an employee, getting a good look at her surroundings as a driver for Toni Hartzler, who gives PR tours to visiting dignitaries. She gains an instant ``in'' with the locals when she encounters Jerry McIsaac, an old acquaintance who works there as a medic. Kate spots plenty of drugs at her first party but doesn't observe anyone dealing. Of equal interest to her are the Native American artifacts being unearthed by archeologists at a local dig. While Kate is getting caught up in artifacts, she fails to notice that the dealers themselves are playing sleuth, putting her in danger. Throughout, Stabenow makes effective use of the regional setting, culture and Kate's personal heritage to add depth and color to this brisk and thoughtful tale. Mystery Guild alternate. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Deft descriptions of weather, geography, and habitation set this mystery in a world of its own. Native private investigator Kate Shugak ( A Cold Day for Murder , Berkley Bks., 1992) navigates the charms and pitfalls of life in an Alaskan oil camp, where she searches for drug dealers and a murderer. RPetCo's CEO wants results quickly, so Kate works undercover as a roustabout in order to gain the confidence of other employees. A compelling story in unusual surroundings marks the author's hardcover debut.

Library Journal

YA-This title finds Kate Shugak investigating apparent drug trafficking among the oil workers of the Royal Petroleum Corporation in the Arctic Circle. She has been recommended for the job for several reasons-her Aleutian roots, her past experience in the Anchorage District Attorney's office, and her outstanding record. Readers will not be overly surprised by the unraveling of the case, but they will find the several story lines to be enjoyable. As Kate locates the source of the illegal drugs, so are the subplots revealed, producing a unified, engaging read.-Diane Goheen, Topeka West High School

School Library Journal

It's no wonder Alaska native Stabenow won an Edgar for "A Cold Day for Murder" (1992), her first book about rough-and-tumble Aleut superwoman Kate Shugak, a former district's attorney investigator turned private eye. Shugak is an uncommonly charismatic heroine who's tough, smart, feisty, funny, and compassionate, and Stabenow is a splendid writer who knows how to hook her readers with an exciting blend of thrills, danger, humor, pathos, fact, and fable. Her fascinating descriptions of the glorious, dangerous Alaskan wilderness and the intriguing history of its people are remarkably authentic. In her hardcover debut and fourth book about Shugak, Stabenow zings readers with another high-powered, high-speed adventure that has Kate traveling to Prudhoe Bay, a frigid Alaskan oil field north of the Arctic Circle. The head of RPetCo Oil wants Kate to investigate an alarming influx of cocaine that's making its way into the oil company workers' camp and has already resulted in one worker's death. It's not long before Kate figures out how the stuff is getting in, but in the process, she feels a cold terror far more dangerous than Alaska's subzero temperatures. An excellent choice for all mystery collections and a smashing debut for Berkley's new Prime Crime mystery imprint.

Emily Melton