Play with Fire

I almost skipped this book because of the negative reviews I skimmed on Goodreads. I am glad I didn't. Each book in the series reveals more of Kate's past, fleshes out the secondary characters in the book and builds on the happenings in previous stories and this novel was no different. Most of the negative reviews, it turns out, are from people made uncomfortable by the casting of a reclusive community of fundamentalist evolution-denying book burners in a villainous light, or the characters' meditations on how the Christian religion affected native populations (through boarding schools, through missionaries insisting cultural iconography equaled blasphemy and idolatry) and the book's secondary cast members. For some reason the previous show more books focusing on corrupt environmental practices or Kate's prolonged musings about the seduction of working the oil fields never caused a spate of reviews asking why the author has such an axe to grind, but make a fringe religious group the baddies and readers suddenly get the vapors. Well, I had no such reaction and look forward to more Kate Shugak in my future. show less

Kate Shugak and her friends go mushrooming to earn cash. Mushrooms especially morels generally appear following a forest fire followed by a wet spring. While picking Kate discovers a body ..

Thought provoking. A Mystery. A travelogue of Alaska. An introduction to Native Americans, providing a window into a portion of their culture. Believable characters that you wish were your friends. Believable characters that you wouldn’t want to be your friends.

In the fifth book of a series set in Alaska, featuring native Aleut Kate Shugak, we find her picking Morel mushrooms with some of her friends. Morels bring a substantial price and people flock to Alaska to try and make some extra money. Kate and her friends, Dinah and Bobby, literally stumble on a dead body. He turns out to be local teacher who attempted to explain the evolution theory in his classes. He was never reported missing and seemed to have a very adversarial relationship with his fire and brimstone preacher father. His ten year old son, Matthew, hires Kate to find out what happened to him.

I enjoy this series very much. I've lived in Alaska and think the author does a great job of making the state such a vibrant character on show more its own. Kate is a fascinating protagonist who lives on her own homestead, hunts, fishes and builds everything she needs. This book was definitely my least favorite of the five I've read so far. The murder itself was not very interesting and the cause seemed apparent from the beginning. There's a lot of religious quoting along the way which is not unexpected because the characters and the town are very fundamentalist. I would recommend the series but not this book in particular. show less

Picking mushrooms near the site of the previous year's forest fire, Kate Shugak finds a man's naked body - but he didn't die in the fire, he died of anaphylactic shock. Who was he and how did he come to be there?

Good mystery marred by the discussions of religion - with the arguments of those for and against both refusing to recognise any nuances.

Kate finds herself a body and so it begins. Her body magnet is working strong to find this one it's way out in the...... Meanwhile, she is hired into service by a young child looking for his father. His grandfather is a righteous religious holier than all type preacher, with some extreme dangerous ideals. Kate is stuck in the middle of this zealot filled town and her need to solve these mysteries.
I loved this one, the way Kate and Co. dealt with the zealots was fantastic. Organized religion, oy it can be the cause so much trouble. Her friends, co workers and Mutt are wonderful to spend time with. The place Ms. Stabenow takes us in Alaska are always a treat I feel like I'm getting to know the state while reading this series. On to book #6

Ugh crazy religious zealots. Well done story, and a great reminder to new peeps that this has been a problem for a while, but hard to read because I too am angry and frustrated.

I liked this book. It was fast paced, fleshed out some of Kate Schugak's past, enlightened us on some of the characters and on Alaskan culture in general. I particularly enjoyed the scene where the three RVs, the Okies and the Alaskans get in a traffic accident. In another scene, she tours the U of Alaska Fairbanks museum, where I recently visited, to establish the creation vs evolution theme. Fire is, obviously, an important theme in the book and Stabenow herself plays with fire by taking on organized fringe religion. One gets the idea that Stabenow is "taking on" organized religion; I think she's just story telling.