Book Review: Termination Dust by Sue Henry (Alaska Mysteries #2)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Great characters and an interesting mystery

Cons: Subplot is too heavily featured at the beginning 

The Bottom Line:

Was tourist framed?

Interesting second book

Overcomes slow start

Canoe Trip Turns Dangerous

Sue Henry’s mysteries set in Alaska have long been on my radar, and I enjoyed the first one when I read it a few years ago. I’m sorry it took me so long to get to Termination Dust, the second in the series, since I enjoyed it as well. 

Jim Hampton is enjoying an early autumn vacation, canoeing in the Yukon Territory. He’s even made an unexpected discovery - the diary of a prospector from the 1890’s gold rush. But things that a turn when someone he met along the way is murdered and someone is trying to frame him for it. Fortunately, Alaska trooper Alex Jensen is in the area, and he is suspicious of the evidence again Jim. But can Alex figure out what is really going on?

I did struggle to get into this book. The subplot of the diary Jim finds, while interesting, is the focus at the beginning of the book. I was ready for the real story to begin before it took off. Once it did, I was fully invested in the story. We still had some detours even after that point, but I didn’t care nearly as much because I was enjoying the detours as well. 

The subplot with the diary was a way to bring in the history of the Alaska gold rush. And I appreciated it overall. We get excerpts from the diary over the course of the novel, but if you want the entire thing, it’s an extra at the end. Since the book was written in the 1990’s, the centennial of the rush was approaching, making the subplot timely.

Alex is the only real returning character in this book. Jesse, a musher who was pivotal in the first book, does make a few appearances, but this is really Alex’s story. Not that I’m complaining since I like him and enjoyed getting to know him better. 

This story makes excellent use of third person point of view to give us the story from multiple points of view. This helps increase the suspense as things unfold as well as helping us get to know the new characters better. 

Everything comes to a head in a logical climax that explained everything about the events of the book. 

And yes, we do actually spend the book in Canada near the border with Alaska. Alex’s presence and his investigation into a case outside his jurisdiction is logical, and I willingly went along with it. 

The writing of this book is excellent with passages that pull us into the story and bring the world of the characters to life for us. 

Having said that, I do have to knock the version I read, a trade paperback reprint done by a small press within the last few years. There were quite a few typos and formatting issues – enough to be truly annoying. I hope if they’ve done any reprints that these things got fixed. 

Overall, Termination Dust is a good second entry. While Sue Henry isn’t talked about as much now as when these books were first in print, you’ll be happy you tracked them down.