Reviews

Good read. Mystery in general is not much my cup of tea, but this was a well-written and enjoyable book. I particularly enjoyed the historical elements about the worker's movement in the '30s.

justasking27's review against another edition

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3.0

Slow moving, but interesting characters and settings.

jmeston's review against another edition

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3.0

I prefer Cold Storage, the crummy yet cosy village story, over this noirish march up the Pacific Northwest. I did appreciate the street level view of labor issues in the mid '30s. I think that's the best part of the book. I didn't much enjoy being stuck on a small boat with these characters, cold and wet for most of the time. Might have been worth it for the description of raking a fire aside on the beach so they could sleep on the warm dry sand. That was delightful to imagine. Far too much cold salt water.

flogigyahoo's review against another edition

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5.0

The first book in the Cold Storage series by John Straley, who is a hell of a good writer. Here he tells the story of the founding of this town in Alaska and 4 people who end up traveling there. Slippery Wilson is a carpenter who is looking forward to a quiet life in 1935, but meets Ellie Hobbes, a political activist who gets involved with agitators, anarchists, communists, strike breakers, killers and murderers. Most of the book is taken up by the backbreaking, awful journey the 2 take to Alaska in a tiny little dory boat together with Hobbes' little niece and with the long arm of the law on their tail. Utterly fascinating.

eveningstar_reader's review against another edition

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4.0

I love John Straley's PI series set in Sitka. This is a stand-alone mystery set in the 20s and it was very good as well.

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