Despite the gloomy title, Kate is having fun in "Restless In The Grave", even if she is constantly being beaten up and locked into confined spaces. Having freed herself from her duties as Chair of the board of the Niniltna Native Association, Kate grabs the chance to head out of town to carry out an undercover investigation of a possible murder at Newenham, Trooper Liam Campbell's domain.

 

For those of us who have read the Liam Campbell books, "Fire And Ice",  "So Sure Of Death", "Nothing Gold Can Stay" and "Better To Rest", much fun is had from seeing Liam's world through Kate's eyes. I was a bit surprised to find how much Kate enjoyed the sight of Liam in uniform. I figured that she and Wy Chouinard would work something out and I expected (and got) fireworks when Kate and Moses met.

 

Kate's investigation uncovers something much larger and more sinister than she had expected and gets her involved with all kinds of Federal agencies. The plot twists are nicely timed, the story is both plausible and cautionary with respect to security in Alaska.

 

Meanwhile, back in Niniltna, Jim Chopin finally acknowledges to himself that Kate's house is now his home and that it is empty without her. He also discovers that Kate's nemesis has been release from jail and has become a shareholder in the gold mine.

 

Although Kate has a good time in this book, there is a sense that her freedom,  and perhaps her happiness, will be short-lived. It seems that "Restless In The Grave" refers to the spirit of Old Sam and that his legacy to Kate has still fully to unfold.

 

In bringing Kate's and Liam's worlds together Dana Stabenow  again demonstrates her ability to bring characters to life with relatively few words and to maintain an ensemble cast without letting them slip into plot devices. This crossover also made me aware of what a good job Marguerite Gavin, the narrator of the Liam Campbell series and the Kate Shugak series, does in creating and maintaining distinctive voices for this wide range of characters.

I've been a fan of both the Kate and Liam series for years, now. I'm awed at how well Dana Stabenow keeps up her high standards. With Restless in the Grave I think you really need to have read most of the series to fully enjoy it. That said, the Alaskan setting is, as always, stunning.

The characters are as real as ever. The mystery absorbing. And there's Mutt ... who wouldn't read the book just for her? :)

I'd been looking forward to reading Restless in the Grave since I first heard that Kate and Liam would both be featured. It didn't disappoint. Central to this installment, of course, is a mystery that needed solving. The investigation began in Alaska Trooper Liam Campbell's town of Newenham, timed nicely with a perceived need by Kate to get out of Niniltna for a while. (No spoilers.) She and Mutt go in undercover to check out the "suspects". As this installment is essentially book 19 of the Kate Shugak series (and book 5 of the Liam Campbell series), many characters from earlier books make appearances or are mentioned. (So fun to revisit them!) It would be nearly impossible to summarize the backstory for all of them, and reading the books in order would be my recommendation, but I think that author Dana Stabenow filled in enough of the blanks to make the story very readable even for those readers who would be new to either or both series. Kate hasn't lost her touch as a private investigator. She and Mutt show yet again that they make a great team. This book had great pace, a solid plot, and the usual cast of memorable characters. I've always enjoyed the touches of humor, the tips of the hat to other authors, and the deft way in which Stabenow works in pieces of colorful Alaskan history as well as glimpses of everyday life in the vastness of that state. I found the book hard to put down, despite wanting to savor it. It's a book that I will definitely reread and would highly recommend to others. Five star read for me!