Iris Yamashita

When a couple body parts are found near Point Mettier, Alaska, Cara Kennedy is hopeful that there might be some connection to the disappearance and death of her husband and young son. She arrives at the town just before a terrible snowstorm cuts it off from everything - although, truth be told, it's a fairly isolated place even at the best of times. You can only get there via a tunnel so narrow it only allows one-way access (the direction changes on a schedule, when the weather permits it), and everyone lives in one enormous building. It's the kind of environment where everyone knows everyone's business, and outsiders are kept at an arm's length.

You don't willingly live in a place like this without good reason, and most of the residents have big secrets in their pasts. Did one of them commit murder in order to keep their secrets hidden? And, if so, what's the connection to the murder of Cara's husband and son?

This had a great premise. Point Mettier's claustrophia and isolation instantly hooked me. Unfortunately, all of the book's best reveals happened way too soon. The actual final reveals were easy to predict and not particularly thrilling.

I don't know that the alternating POVs really added anything to this, either. We got to see things from three perspectives - Cara, Lonnie, and Amy. Amy was one of Point Mettier's few teens, and also one of its longest-term residents. Lonnie was a former patient at a mental institution - even at Point Mettier, the only ones she truly trusted were the sheriff and Denny, her moose. Amy's POV was fine and gave readers a view into what it was like being a Point Mettier resident (largely very boring), but Lonnie's had enough repetitive elements that I wish she'd had fewer chapters.

The supposed "connection" between the body parts and the deaths of Cara's husband and son felt like a pretty big reach. In general, Cara read like somebody who really needed some caring friends or family around to keep her grounded and help her heal. It looks like this book is going to be the first in a series, and I'm not sure I'm interested enough in Cara and her story to continue on.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (mehr)

Village in the Dark is the second book in Iris Yamashita's Detective Cara Kennedy series. (Yes, this can be read as a stand alone.)

Yamashita takes us back up to Alaska and the fictional village of Point Mettier. The entire village lives in a high rise building. This setting is based on an actual village that does indeed live in one building. I enjoyed the descriptions of life inside and the many idiosyncrasies of the inhabitants.

Cara suffered a loss in the last book. She thought she had put that loss to bed, so to say, but the past is still knocking on the door.

Yamashita gives us some great opening chapters - from the point of three women. Cara, Ellie and Mia. Ellie is a feisty landlady at the building. And Mia is a young woman who was raised in the bush, but has decamped to the city of Anchorage. Three very different backgrounds, skills and ages give the reader a different take on what's going on. Each is engaging, but I think I enjoyed Ellie the most. The narrative changes every chapter - which had me staying up to read 'just one more chapter.'

The crime in the book is not new, but Yamashita has put her own twist on the final how why. There's lots of tension and action throughout the novel. I can see this book being made into a movie. Yamashita is an award winning screenwriter with four Oscar nominations.

There are a few plot devices that need to be taken with a pinch of salt - just go with it. Overall, a great addictive read. I would happily pick the next book.… (mehr)

Alaskan noir!

Cara Kennedy is a hardened detective in a remote Alaskan village. She’s grieving. Bones had been found, presumed to be her missing husband and son. She buried them. Only now that question is moot. Was it an accident or murder. Cara has their bodies resumed. That is the beginning.
Three POV’s to the tale merge, Cara’s, Mia Updash from the remote village of Unity, and Ellie Wright, owner of the Cozy Condo Inn at Point Mettier.
I found the plot strung out. I lost interest but kept plodding on. The latter half picked up, chillingly so. Damage done however, and Village in the Dark just didn’t recover from my first impressions. I was left with too many uh’s!
Despite the fabulous setting and gritty overtones I just wasn’t won over.

A Berkley Group ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.… (mehr)