The term "Termination Dust" signifies the first snow which terminates summer, and means winter is on the way. It also signaled the end of the gold rush season, when Winter would make the ground too hard to work in the search or gold. In this second book of the Jessie Arnold series, Jessie's "boyfriend" Alex Jensen is in Canada helping the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on a case, when another set of murders occurs, involving a vacationing canoer, an ex-Senator, his son, and some other local personalities.
Jim Hampton is on a canoe trip in Yukon territory when he comes across some skeletal remains and an old diary. Packing the artifacts in his belongings, intending to take them to the authorities when he gets back, Jim begins reading the diary at night, becoming interested in what appears to be the journal of gold rusher. As he continues on his trip, he runs afoul of some of the locals who are up to no good, ending up with his things stolen, and being nearly killed. Later, as he is trying to recover from his near fatal encounter with the men, somehow his things miraculously reappear, along with the body of a man he'd visited with earlier that day. To the authorities he could be guilty of the crime, but Alex Jensen isn't convinced, and thus begins the investigation, which ties the gold rusher's diary to the present day.
This is a fun series, packed full of Alaskan/Northern territory history and facts. The first book Murder on the Iditarod was all about that famous dog sled race, and you're there with the mushers every step of the way, learning about the harshness of the territory, and what the people running the race go through to win. Jessie herself is one of the mushers, who meets up with Alex during the race.
There are 12 books so far in the Jessie Arnold Series:
1. Murder on the Iditarod Trail (1991)
2. Termination Dust (1995)
3. Sleeping Lady (1996)
4. Death Takes Passage (1997)
5. Deadfall (1998)
6. Murder on the Yukon Quest (1999)
7. Beneath the Ashes (2000)
8. Dead North (2001)
9. Cold Company (2002)
10. Death Trap (2003)
11. Murder At Five Finger Light (2005)
12. Degrees of Separation (2008)
This sounds like a good mystery series, but I need to get caught up in another one like I need a hole in my had. *L* I'm terrible about wanting to collect all of them from start to finish before I start reading them.
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