Winter's End by Paige Shelton Book Review

 

I received a gifted copy and am providing a review. Publishing December 2022.

This is book four in the Alaska Mystery Series. Thin Ice, Cold Wind, and Dark Night are the first three. I also had opportunity to read Thin Ice, book one in this series. At this point, Beth has now been in Benedict, Alaska, for a little over a year, still finding her way, still trying to face her demons, the reason she’s in Benedict to begin with. She is still grappling with the relationships she wishes to have with her mother and her father. This time, though, she has found herself making a friend in Kaye. They walked their dogs together, and now that winter is thawing and spring is trying to appear, the people of Benedict are surfacing. In Benedict, they have a yearly tradition called the Death Walk. That is when people of the community gather around just to be sure everyone survived the winter. If someone is missing, they are looked for to be accounted for. Not much happens in this small town of Benedict, but when something does happen it happens in a big way. Such is what happens in Winter’s End.

Beth still lives with Viola, who still runs her halfway house for non-violent criminals, generally female, this time though, she has taken in a male, Chaz. Chaz has his own story to tell. He may not be good at the criminal game, but he is an excellent cook and everyone seems to like him. Also, in this tale, Viola is reunited with the man who took her and her sister, Benny, in when they first arrived as teens in Benedict, Al. Beth has also been tasked with homing Elijah’s dogs, one of whom went to be with Kaye. There is also the story of the ongoing feud between the Millers and the Oliphants, and what a mess that has created.

While I have only read two books in this series, they can be read as standalones and the characters are very consistent which is something I appreciate in a series. I especially like the fact that Beth, in Winter’s End, has found some answers to many questions and has learned to face her demons, but in the end, there is more that is going to be happening in this small town of Benedict, Alaska. We just have to wait for the next book. Winter’s End also apparently ties up one of the biggest issues Beth has been dealing with, but I suspect that it’s not really the end.