Cold Company: An Alaska Mystery (Beeler Large Print Series) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Sue Henry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2003 | Series: Beeler Large Print Series

Multiple award-winning author Sue Henry takes us into the heart of America's last frontier with a gripping tale of suspense set in a rugged land that appeals to the adventurous and strong ... and to those who are drawn to darkness.

Famed Alaskan "musher" Jessie Arnold thinks she's finally put her dark past behind her. But the excavations on her new cabin unearth a decades-old skeleton entombed in a crumbling basement wall -- along with a butterfly pendant necklace worn by the alleged victim of a brutal serial slayer who preyed on area women twenty years earlier.

Pulled once more into a murder investigation against her will, Jessie fears a grim, half-forgotten nightmare has been reborn. For, in this stark and lonely place, in the first days of the all-too-brief Alaskan summer, another woman has disappeared without a trace. The signs suggest the unthinkable: an insatiable human monster has returned. And the clues she's uncovering hint that Jessie Arnold may well be his next victim.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Alaskan musher Jessie Arnold has certainly used up more than nine lives even before the start of this ninth solid adventure in a series that has won both Anthony and Macavity awards. Fiercely independent and self-reliant to a fault, Jessie must confront inner fears as well as outside dangers as she sets about rebuilding her home (gutted in 2000's Beneath the Ashes) and restructuring her life (after a breakup that occurred in the same novel). First a skeleton turns up in the excavation of her new cabin site; then a possible link is found to murders committed decades earlier by Alaska's most notorious serial killer, Robert Hansen. Hansen's victims, some of whom were never found, had been buried along the nearby Knik River. Soon not only the cabin construction crew but forensic and police investigators, plus a relative of one of Hansen's victims still searching for answers, are prowling the wild and remote Knik Road that leads to Jesse's property. As murders new and old begin to unfold, Jesse has to learn to rely on others as well as on her own substantial survival skills to surmount human and natural pitfalls. One of the hallmarks of Henry's series is the beautiful and rugged Alaskan landscape, and she has never used it more effectively than she does here, as spring sets in motion new discoveries. And Jesse's continuing voyage of self-discovery should thrill old fans as well as expand her growing audience in the lower 48.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Jessie Arnold's (Dead North) discovery of an old skeleton beneath her home sets her on the years-old trail of an infamous serial killer. When another woman disappears, Jessie's hunt becomes critical. A certain crowd-pleaser. [See Dana Stabenow's A Fine and Bitter Snow, reviewed below, which features that other Alaskan sleuth, Kate Shugak. Ed.]
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: Thomas T Beeler; Lrg edition (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574904574
• ISBN-13: 978-1574904574
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,391,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting Alaskan mystery, June 8, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cold Company: An Alaska Mystery (Hardcover)

Dog musher Jessie Arnold has not had an easy time of it lately. Four months ago, she broke up with her significant other, State Trooper Alex when he moved to Idaho and she didn't want to leave Alaska nor commit to a marriage when she guarded her independence. Three months ago, a serial arsonist burnt down her log cabin located in a remote area eight miles from the small town of Wasilla in Matunuska Valley.

Now that the long days of summer are nearly here, work is getting underway to build Jessie a bigger and better log cabin complete with a basement. When they excavate the hole that will house the foundation, Jessie finds a skeleton buried in one of the dirt walls. The police also find a gold butterfly pendant near the remains, which belong to the victim of one of Alaska's most violent serial killers. The pendant links up to a copycat killing that are going on today and Jessie finds herself once again in deadly danger.

Sue Henry brings to life the beauty and the camaraderie of living in Alaska to such a degree that readers will want to hop a plane to visit our forty-ninth state. The protagonist embodies the spirit of Alaska, a person who is fiercely independent, wants her way, and will bend but not break. The mystery itself is a well-drawn puzzle, impossible to fathom until all the pieces click neatly into place. Readers of COLD COMPANY will enjoy the latest installment in this long running series.

Harriet Klausner

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jessie's cabin is rebuilt, July 7, 2002

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cold Company: An Alaska Mystery (Hardcover)

Jessie Arnold, intrepid Alaskan female musher, has been without a permanent home since her cabin was burned by an arsonist the previous year. Now she watches in delight as a construction crew digs a hole for the basement of her new home. In the process, however, Jesse discovers the skeleton of someone who was buried on her homesite many years ago. As the forensic experts attempt to discover the identity of the body, new bodies of women more recently killed begin to show up in the vicinity. Also Jessie begins to receive roses from an anonymous person, which parallels the modus operandi of a serial killer who operated in the area some 20 years ago. The investigation of the murders proceeds as Jessie's house is rebuilt and the mystery grows until the climatic moment when the killer's identity is revealed and Jessie's life is endangered. A new romance, and a new cabin for Jessie infuse some interesting elements into this enjoyable series.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost Like Being There, August 7, 2005

By 

N. Sausser "pucksau" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cold Company: An Alaska Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

Jessie Arnold is building a new cabin on her property to replace the one that was burned to the ground by an arsonist a few months ago (Beneath The Ashes). During the excavation for her basement, a skeleton is unearthed. Meanwhile, women are being found to have been murdered in a way that recalls a serial murderer of twenty years ago. Sue Henry weaves a wonderful plot in which several characters could be the perpetrator. The reader worries Jessie will trust the wrong person while suspecting another. As always, Henry's landscape and wildlife descriptions are so well done, it's almost like being there. I read Sleeping Lady several years ago and I don't remember the story, but I remember the descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness. These books let the reader reside in the wilderness for a little while with all the perks and none of the hardships.