Spoils of the Dead: A Liam Campbell Novel

Edgar winner Stabenow’s outstanding sixth Liam Campbell novel (after 2012’s Restless in the Grave, also featuring another series lead, Kate Shugak) finds the Alaska state trooper posted to the Kenai Peninsula with his bush pilot wife as he slowly revives his career after a botched operation years before, which left a family near Denali dead and led to his demotion. Violence immediately interrupts the couple’s integration into the community when an archaeologist, whose findings may jeopardize a major oil drilling expansion in the area, is killed near a cave where a terrible crime occurred decades earlier. As Liam investigates, he encounters a slew of richly developed secondary characters, including a movie star who loves luxury rural life and a former bombshell nightclub singer teetering precariously on the edge of dementia. Rich in details of Alaskan life, history, and archaeology, this fast-paced mystery builds to a satisfying conclusion. Fans will hope they won’t have to wait another eight years for Liam’s next outing. (Feb.)