So, this was another of my Bargain Books on Kindle. A while back, I ordered a stack of titles that were all free or 99 cents, and most of them have been pretty good (there are a few that I started and abandoned, but that’s another post altogether). Polar Bear Dawn is the first book in the Detective Bernadette Callahan Mystery series and it’s a pretty good start!

Polar Bear Dawn: A Detective Bernadette Callahan Mystery

Bernadette Callahan is a detective in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, assigned to Fort McMurray, Alberta, which is the home of several large oil camps. There’s been a suicide — or maybe it’s a murder. Or is it two murders? Then there are more bodies and a mystery that threatens to bring world oil markets to their knees.

It’s a good story – lots of interesting characters, lots of shady motives, and you don’t know quite who to root for. I love a bit of ambiguity! Reality is seldom black and white and straight lines. Callahan is a good cop (my second female cop this week, I think), but she is saddled with a by-the-books superior officer who is not inclined to listen to her. I’ve worked with that guy before, I think; lots of women have. Part of the fun is watching her navigate those waters.

One thing did bother me: the editing. Don’t skip on the editing! Most readers probably won’t notice, but I used to do a lot of copy editing and grammar problems cause me physical pain. (And if you say you are going to “peddle” a bike, you better be putting it up for sale, because you can’t cover any ground by “peddling.”) A small thing, but it nags at me.

I’ve already picked up the 3-book set ($6.99 – highly recommended) and I’ll be coming back to this story in the near future. Maybe you’re looking for a cold-climate story to read on a hot beach — this would be perfect.

My copy of Polar Bear Dawn came from my personal library of Kindle Deals. To add it to your library, click on one of the links below.