Kate Shugak is a native Aleut working as a private investigator in Alaska. She's 5 foot 1 inch tall, carries a scar that runs from ear to ear across her throat and owns half-wolf, half-husky dog named Mutt. Resourceful, strong-willed, defiant, Kate is tougher than your average heroine - and she needs to be to survive the worst the Alaskan wilds can throw at her.
Two crew members disappeared on a trawler's last trip out. The skipper wants Kate Shugak to find on the quiet out what happened to them: have they abandoned ship or is he harbouring a murderer? Hiring on as a deckhand, Kate finds there are some pretty tough guys on an Alaskan fishing