Posts by MELISSA COFFMAN
Death at the Shipshape Bookshop, by Greta McKennan
Death at the Shipshape Bookshop, by Greta McKennan Junetta Beale is living in paradise. As owner of the Shipshape Bookshop in Southeast Alaska, she sells books in town, operates a lending library for the locals, and serves the villages in her floating bookmobile. She loves her peaceful coastal life. That peace is shattered when she…
Read MoreDeath in the Underworld, by Betsy Longenbaugh
Death in the Underworld, by Betsy Longenbaugh Federal Marshal Frank Leishke is called to the scene of the vicious murder of a prostitute in Douglas, Alaska, in 1916. The site of the largest gold mine in the world, Douglas was also home to numerous bars, prostitutes, and itinerant workers. Leishke is aided in his work…
Read MoreThe Ghost of the Kenai, by Aurora Hardy
The Ghost of the Kenai, by Aurora Hardy In 1796, the men at Fort Kenay or Russian Redoubt Saint Nicholas are terrified. A ghost, a woman in a tattered white dress, screams nightly along the banks of the Kenai River below the bluffs where the fort stands. Young Nicholas arrives with Captain Zaikov on his…
Read MoreChasing the Dark, by Joseph Jackson
Chasing the Dark, by Joseph Jackson Joe Jackson’s life has seemed to follow the hours of low light; waking in the pitch-dark to beat the sun and lingering until it’s long gone. The stories told in between range from hunting snowshoe hares in the cold of Alaskan winter; Spey casting monotonously to king salmon and…
Read MoreCensure and Repeal, by Don Stuart
Censure and Repeal, by Don Stuart The charismatic CEO of a high-tech multinational corporation dies when his self-driving car plunges off a cliff into Puget Sound. The company’s own technical experts find that the car’s computer was turned off at the time of the accident. So the police rule his death a suicide. But lawyer…
Read MoreMurder in Vancouver 1886, by Marion Crook
Murder in Vancouver 1886, by Marion Crook Vancouver, 1886, a bustling city with a growing population and tantalizing opportunities. Some of those opportunities are illegal. When Amy MacDonald, the school teacher at Hastings Mill, discovers new Winchester ’86 rifles are being smuggled through the city, she tries to enlist the aid of the earnest but…
Read MoreMercy Pilot, by Dirk Tordoff
Mercy Pilot, by Dirk Tordoff Joe Crosson, a brave and skilled pilot, became a national hero between the world wars flying mercy missions in the North. He pioneered air routes throughout Alaska and foresaw the future of commercial aviation. Above all else, he loved to fly. In 1929, Crosson generated newspaper headlines worldwide flying a…
Read MorePatsy Ann of Alaska, by Tricia Brown
Patsy Ann of Alaska, by Tricia Brown In 1929, Patsy Ann arrived in Juneau, Alaska, with an independent streak as big as the territory. The English bull terrier cycled through a couple of households, running away each time, making it clear that she was nobody’s dog. She was everybody’s dog. Meet the canine free spirit…
Read MoreThe Oceanside History of Alaska, by Mike Coppock
The Oceanside History of Alaska, by Mike Coppock A history of Alaska’s seaports settled by fishermen, gold seekers, Scandinavians, Native peoples, and Russian trappers. It is a time of a violent history as these diverse people carved their own isolated world from forests, cliff faces, and raging seas. This is a tale of wild men…
Read MoreCaught in the Rush, by W. Mace Brady
Caught in the Rush, by W. Mace Brady As the depression of 1893 worsened, many began seeking a new life. By 1895, hundreds of banks and thousands of businesses had gone under. As the stock market collapsed, jobs became scarce, and the value of the dollar declined. In 1894, Bill Schooley, with two childhood friends,…
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