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Beneath the Ashes: An Alaska Mystery (Alaska Mysteries)
 
 
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Beneath the Ashes: An Alaska Mystery (Alaska Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Sue Henry (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)


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Book Description

Alaska Mysteries July 25, 2000

Out of the dark, an alomost invisible shadow slips swiftly through the falling snow to the back door.  A glow in the window flickers and grows stronger...tongues of flame leap and dance ...the blaze speaks in cracks and pops, until its voice gradually becomes a ravenous, insatiable roar..

The arrival of spring's first delicate blossoms promises relief from another cold and harsh winter deep in the heart of Alaskan widerness.  And with a gang of frisky half-grown Husky pups trailing at her heels, Jessie Arnold looks forward to a new season of grueling, yet exhilarating, training with her dogs on the blankets of snow that linger on into the summer.  But just as the harsh Alaskan wind can unexpectedly sting on even the most beautiful spring day, new horrors bring a chill to Jessie's seemingly peaceful home...

A mysterious fire ravages a popular local pub, leaving an unidentified body lying in the ruins.  As if the destruction of her favorite watering hole isn't bad enough, Jessie's life is interrupted by the anticipated arrival of a friend she hasn't heard from a decade.  Shocked at the sight of a troubled woman, Jessie is stuneed to hear Anne's story of years of abuse at the hands of her husband.  And when Jessie awakens in the night to discover the cabin she built herself engulfed in flames, and Anne sitting idly outside unwilling to help, Jessie begins to wonder whether her houseguest is a crazed liar or an arsonist.

But it is Jessie herself who is the target of the arsonj investigation.  Fighting to cear her name, she comes face to face with dangerous passions that leave her angry and confused about unanswered questions from the past.  And when an unknown  killer begins to stalk her, only Jessie can stop the forces that threaten to destroy her.



Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The identity of the arsonist plaguing musher Jessie Arnold comes as no surprise in her seventh outing, but Anthony and Macavity winner Henry provides plenty of unexpected twists and turns along the way. Right before Jessie's favorite bar burns down, killing an unknown man inside, she gets a call from an old acquaintance and former neighbor, Anne Holman, now living in Colorado. Anne asks Jessie to help her travel to the log cabin she once shared with her physically abusive husband, Greg. Knowing this entails a dog-sled trip into the wilderness, but feeling sorry for Anne, Jessie agrees. As they prepare for their trip, however, Mike Tatum, the arson investigator looking into the bar fire, tells Jessie that Anne, who's been strangely secretive, was a suspect in an arson case years before in which the now-identified victim played a part. Anne swears Tatum is obsessed with proving her guilty, which makes sense to Jessie, who can't stand the man. Later, though, Jessie has to wonder when she and Anne arrive at their destination and find the charred remains of Anne's former home. Anne is sure that Greg has burned down the cabin since her last visit. Back home, when someone torches the cabin Jessie built with her own hands, she can't figure out who her enemy really isATatum, whom she enraged by defending Anne; Anne herself; or Greg, who's followed his wife to Alaska. Again, Henry's lyrical descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness make up for a transparent plot and a melodramatic finale. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

It's spring in Alaska, and Jessie Arnold is training a new pack of sled dogs. Then the trouble starts: a fire destroys a local tavern and leaves a dead body; Jessie's old friend Annie Holman turns up with horrible tales of wife abuse; and Jessie's own cabin is burned. In an effort to put her world back in order, Jessie must get to the bottom of the arson outbreak, and to do that, she must determine whether her friend is a victim or a maniacal killer. In this latest Jessie Arnold mystery, Henry again does a masterful job of mixing vivid Alaska landscape with a tantalizing plot, an endearing protagonist, and some of the most lovable dogs in print. The book's jittery, nail-biting pace hooks readers early on, and if the ending itself proves disappointing, all that leads up to it is as entertaining as it is compelling. Not the best in the series but satisfying reading all the same. John Rowen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (July 25, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0380976625
  • ISBN-13: 978-0380976621
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #681,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

19 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Weakest of the series, June 8, 2001
By 
Regular readers of Sue Henry's books will doubtless want to read Beneath the Ashes, if only to keep up with the activities of the protaganist, Jessie Arnold. But be warned, this is not up to her usual standards. Like earlier books, the best thing about Ashes is the descriptions of Alaska and sled dog racing but, while the description of the process of training young dogs is interesting, on the whole there less of this type of material than usual. In her other books, Henry's typical plot device is "spot the loonie", that is, figure out which of these seemingly normal people is actually a homicidal nut case. She has real problems figuring out how to deal with the situation in this book where the question is: "which of these nut cases is the killer?" As a result, by the time all is revealed you really don't care very much.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Not one of her best, April 21, 2004
By 
This review is from: Beneath the Ashes (Audio Cassette)
I've read many of Sue Henry's books and enjoyed most of them (they've also have turned me into an Iditarod and Yukon Quest fan). But this one is not up to her usual standards. Not only don't you care for any of the characters, but the denouement is so convoluted and implausible that I was left thinking "HUH????"

I feel rather disloyal saying all this, since she's one of my favorite authors, but I wouldn't want anyone reading this and judging her series by this one volume. Try "Murder on the Iditarod Trail," "Murder on the Yukon Quest," or "Termination Dust" (one of my favorites) before giving up on her.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars MORE FRIGID ADVENTURES, October 4, 2005
Sue Henry's Jessie Arnold series is wonderful in evincing a feel of the Alaskan wilderness and life in the "slow" lane. Unfortunately, Henry's books while generally entertaining are a little too laid back in their delivery, and Arnold comes across as a less effective heroine than she should be. In BENEATH THE ASHES, Arnold is approached by an old acquaintance to help her dig up something in a cabin where she lived ten years prior, having Arnold as her neighbor. We immediately dislike this friend, Anne, and it isn't too long before several arsons immerse Jessie in a complex plot in which she becomes a main suspect. Henry isn't a master of suspenseful plotting, but her images of the wilderness and her love for the sledding life is evidenced and entertaining.
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First Sentence:
ON AN EARLY EVENING IN MID-MARCH, JESSIE ARNOLD was sitting on the floor by her huge sofa, surrounded by a gang of half-grown pups from two different litters that she had brought into the house so they could become accustomed to handling and interaction with a human, as well as to the other dogs. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sled bag, snow hook, dog box, dog yard
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Greg Holman, Hank Peterson, Anne Holman, Knik Road, Phil Becker, Mike Tatum, Big Lake, Petersville Road, Trapper Creek, Billy Steward, Jessie Arnold, Cal Mulligan, Yukon Quest, Marty Gifford, Parks Highway, Alex Jensen, Kroto Creek, Oscar Lee, Forks Roadhouse, Alaska Airlines, Jeep Cherokee, Susitna Valley
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