When I looked up books similar to True Detective: Night Country, I couldn’t have known at the time that this would be what I was searching for.
Alaska. Remote setting. Layered mystery. Suspicious locals. Detective with a troubled past. Check, check, check and check.
This was one where I hurt myself trying to read and absorb as quickly as possible to get to the next page. Not surprising given that Iris Yamashita is a screenwriter. But having had mixed feelings in the past on screenwriters-turned-novelists, Yamashita does a great job of keeping it both cinematic and substantive, starting with the way she portrayed the building. I’ve read mysteries where folks are snowed in but not like this to where they’re all in the same complex, possibly with a killer. Yamashita does a great job of bringing it to life.
She also does an excellent job of seeding twists. These twists were well-considered without being over-the-top and while they did change the stakes, they didn’t alter them to the point that I felt like I was reading something else. That’s harder to do than it sounds and it’s a credit to her writing that she pulls it off.
But most importantly, the characters. I cared about Cara’s plight and the reveals on her motivations were well done and fit with the character. I cared about Amy, she felt real and was a great way to address the complexities of immigration. I wasn’t always a huge fan of Lonnie but I appreciated what Yamashita was trying to do with her and I think she mostly pulled it off.
There’s enough meat on the bone for a continued series but as a standalone, it works great as well. I was a bit bummed to see that Cara’s going to be patterning up with the residents from this building again; once was plenty of time to spend with them, though many have interesting back stories. Either way, I’ll be reading. This was a lot of fun. One of the best things I’ve read this year, without question.