SHIVER HITCH (Jane Bunker #3)
Linda Greenlaw
St. Martins Minotaur
June 6, 2017
Jane Bunker was born on remote Acadia Island but her mother fled to Miami taking Jane and her infant brother, Wally, along. Jane never heard anything good about her Bunker family but when her career as a homicide detective exploded she decided to settle in Maine. The plan was to find out about the Bunkers but after nine months she has not even visited the island. Her two gigs as an insurance investigator and assistant Knox County sheriff have kept her busy and it is the depths of a Maine winter. But when she is sent over to Acadia to investigate a house fire, she discovers a dead body in the ruins and a tangled web of murder, resentments, and big-time drug smuggling.
It has been a number of years since the first two Jane Bunker mysteries, Slipknot and Fisherman's Bend. I was concerned that I wouldn't remember much about the previous two but found myself slipping into the story easily. Jane is by nature a solitary soul but has made friends in her mainland village of Green Haven, notably her eccentric landlords and her fisherman friend, Cal. After many years of Maine vacations, I find her descriptions of life on the mainland and on remote Acadia completely authentic. I can even hear the distinct Downeast accent in the dialogue. Maine is a beautiful state but has all the problems of anywhere else, especially drugs and lack of economic opportunity. And Maine can be particularly dangerous, especially in the winter. Jane makes a number of missteps in her investigation; missteps that could get her killed. Hopefully, Shiver Hitch signals more to come in the Jane Bunker series. We still don't know much about the Bunkers, and the appearance of her brother, Wally, signal more to come.
Thanks to St. Martins Minotaur and NetGalley for an advance digital copy. The opinions above are my own.
RATING- 4 Stars
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