Sound Tracks

Alaskan Panhandle Mysteries

By: Marcia Simpson

Narrated by: Stephanie Brush

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Liza "Liz" Romero steers her old boat Salmon Eye in and out of small Alaskan ports delivering cargo and books, constantly flirting with danger in the waters around Wrangell Island. Yet even Liz isn't prepared for what awaits her one November morning. A sudden crash rocks the Salmon Eye, bringing Liz running from the wheelhouse to the foredeck expecting submerged rocks or another vessel. Instead she sees a humpback whale diving over the boat, narrowly missing the deck. Then Henry Sizemore, an Alaska State Wildlife Protection Agency officer, disappears. He isn't there for the expected delivery of the hydrophones he ordered.

Both Liz and Wrangell police officer Paul Howard are convinced the whales and dolphins of Sumner Strait are dangerously disoriented. Meanwhile, Tim "Tango" has something to hide, and Mink, the maverick owner of the Velvet Moose bar is out of control. Scott Beringer, newly arrived marine biologist, knows something about "Tango," even while hiding his own past. Alaska may be a haven where you can hide, yet it is a wilderness fraught with danger. It takes someone like Liz Romero to tame its mysteries.

©2001 Marcia Simpson (P)2003 Books in Motion

Critic reviews

"Mysteries don't get much better than this one." ( Booklist)

Love these characters and the setting

I've listened to both books by Simpson, this one and "Crow in Stolen Colors". I love them both and look forward to more. The author combines good plots with well drawn characters grinding out a life in Alaska's harsh and beautiful environment. Both stories weave in bits of information on Alaskan history and art, and the tough individuals drawn to life in in such a splendid, difficult place. I think the reader's voice is perfect for the people in these stories, a bit harsh and individualistic. I know reader preference is highly subjective, but I can't imagine someone else reading these stories.

listen and learn

Loved hearing and learning about Alaska. Good story, good narrator and easy to keep listening.

Pass on this one

A mediocre writer and the worst reader I have seen on an Audible book.

Painful to listen to

Not too much to like about this one. The narrator was a major distraction for me. I thought I would get used to her, but I never did. She oftens sounds like a robot. As far as the book, I found the main characters whined a lot and stumbled across most of the clues.

Skip this one

I really liked the first book in this series (Crow in Stolen Colors) , but this one was awful. You know "whodunnit" early on because there's only one set of characters who we as the readers/listeners don't know anything about, and everyone else is obviously not guilty. The writing and plotting is very poor. There's one instance where people who are in a lengthy scene together act like they've never met later in the book. I wondered, however, why there were only two books in this series and found out that the author passed away a year after this book was released, and I can't help but wonder if this was an early draft that never got polished.