Winter's End: A Mystery (Alaska Wild)

by Paige Shelton

It’s springtime in Benedict, Alaska, and with it the warmer weather comes an unseasonably somber local tradition... the annual Death March. At the end of each brutal winter, citizens gather downtown and then break into groups to search the community for those who might have somehow gotten stuck at home. Beth Rivers sets off with her friend Orin and dog Gus, toward the cabin of an elderly resident, intending to check on him.

As Beth and company make their way, Orin mentions he’s concerned about two men who showed up for the March. Neither he nor the police chief, Gril, recognised the men.

When they reach the cabin, the old man is alive, but not in the best shape. Beth stays with him while Orin hurries to town for help, but it’s not Orin who returns. Gril comes back with the shocking news that one of the mystery men was just found dead in town and the other is missing. And now, Gril can’t find Orin. Beth and Gril are both concerned, especially considering how cryptic Orin has been of late. When they discover that Orin has been doing some top-secret research, they start to worry he’s been exposed, or worse.

Meanwhile, Beth continues on her own search, for her father, who allegedly is alive in Mexico, but won't return her calls. Still, she's making progress in healing from her own trauma, though can't quite shake the feeling she's being followed...

• ISBN10: 1250846595
• ISBN13: 9781250846594
• Publish Date: 9 January 2023 (first published 6 December 2022)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 5 April 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Minotaur Books,US
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 272
• Language: English
• URL: http://melia.co.uk/page/detail/?k=9781250846594

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Winter's End is the 4th Alaska Wild thriller mystery by Paige Shelton. Released 6th Dec 2022 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 272 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

This is an engaging thriller/mystery series set in a very remote part of Alaska. Main protagonist Beth is a writer on the run to try to reclaim her security and heal herself from a violent abduction by a stalker fan. She's also the local reporter/news publisher and as such, something of a magnet for local happenings. The setting is beautifully drawn, stark and brooding. The plotting and tension arc never felt forced or too slow. The author is adept at her craft and the flashback interludes from Beth's point of view worked very well with the 1st person point of view. Although it's the 4th book in the series, it works very well as a standalone, and it's not necessary to have read the other books when picking this one up.

The language is slightly rough, but wasn't completely over the top or gratuitous. There is violence and psychological tension in the narrative, but again, I never felt the author threw it in without reason. There is potentially triggering trauma (the main character was abducted, held, and tortured for days which is mentioned several times in the story).

The unabridged audiobook version has a run time of 9 hours and 8 minutes and is capably narrated by Suzie Althens. She has a husky alto reading voice which suits the remote Alaskan setting and happily, her voice fades into the story and became unnoticeable to me after a chapter or so. She's adept with characters of both sexes and a wide range of ages, and the sound and production quality were high throughout the recording. I broke the book up in sessions synced between ebook and audio and found that functionality worked very well.

Four stars, an enjoyable and engaging read. With four books extant at this point, and a 5th due out in late 2023, it would make a good candidate for a binge/buddy read. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.