Review: The Boy in the Snow by M. J. McGrath

Author: M. J. McGrath
Publisher: Viking adult (Penguin Group)
Date of publication: November 2012

In The Boy in the Snow, half-Inuit Edie Kiglatuk finds herself in Alaska with Sergeant Derek Palliser, helping her ex-husband Sammy in his bid to win the famous Iditarod dog sled race. The race takes a grim turn when Edie stumbles upon the body of a baby left out in the forest. The state troopers are keen to pin the death on the Dark Believers—a sinister offshoot of a Russian Orthodox sect—but Edie’s instincts tell her otherwise. Her investigations take her into a world of corrupt politics, religious intolerance, greed, and sex trafficking. But just as she begins to get some answers, Edie finds herself confronted by a painful secret from her past.

The Boy in the Snow is the sequel to White Heat which came out last year.  I was looking forward to this book.  Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy it.  In truth, it was pretty dull.  I listened to the audio-book and I'm surprised I even finished it.  There was too much going on in the book and too many characters to keep track of to easily follow the book.   I don't remember having this issue with the first one. One thing that got annoying was the main characters constantly being referred to by their full names.   

The mystery wasn't very exciting.  With the Iditarod in the background, I was expecting something related to that.  Instead it just seemed to be used as an excuse to have Edie and Derek in Alaska.  Maybe it was the main characters?  Edie was so depressing that I didn't care what happened to her or anyone else. I was hoping to see more of the relationship between Edie and Derek develop, but it basically fizzled.  

If there is a third book, I may read it.  But, unless it is a significant improvement, I'll probably stop with the series.

White Heat by M. J. McGrath

Author:M. J. McGrath
Publisher: Penguin Group (August 2011)
Audio by Blackstone Audio. Inc.

Nothing on the tundra rotted ...The whole history of human settlement lay exposed there, under that big northern sky. There was nowhere here for bones to hide. On Craig Island, a vast landscape of ice north of the Arctic Circle, three travellers are hunting duck. Among them is expert Inuit hunter and guide, Edie Kiglatuk; a woman born of this harsh, beautiful terrain. The two men are tourists, experiencing Arctic life in the raw, but when one of the men is shot dead in mysterious circumstances, the local Council of Elders in the tiny settlement of Autisaq is keen to dismiss it as an accident. Then two adventurers arrive in Autisaq hoping to search for the remains of the legendary Victorian explorer Sir James Fairfax. The men hire Edie - whose ancestor Welatok guided Fairfax - along with Edie's stepson Joe, and two parties set off in different directions. Four days later, Joe returns to Autisaq frostbitten, hypothermic and disoriented, to report his man missing. And when things take an even darker turn, Edie finds herself heartbroken, and facing the greatest challenge of her life...

White Heat is beautifully written.  The author did a wonderful job of describing the area in which the story took place.  As I was reading, I really felt like I had been dropped into the Arctic region.  Her descriptions of the landscape make me want to visit there myself someday.  I also really liked her characters.  Edie was so believable and not without fault.   I want to know more about her and I hope that the author visits her again.  I also enjoyed the friendship that develops between Edie and Derek.  It was appropriately not romantic and therefore more believable.  


While I enjoyed this one, I thought it was a bit long.  There was definitely some content that could have been cut out as I felt it was not necessary to the advancement of the story.  I listened to the audio version and I enjoyed the Kate Reading's (the narrator) voice.  Her accent in pronouncing the Inuit names and dialect gave the story a genuine feel.

 --Kari