Secret Places
When everyone has secrets, no one is safe.
Native Alaskan fisherman, Johnny Ingman, leaves for the grounds—and mysteriously disappears.
It is the mid-1980s. Forces from the outside world increasingly undermine traditional cultures and threaten communities in Southeast Alaska. The salmon troll fishery which is their economic base is increasingly at risk. Wildlife Trooper Kolinsky’s relentless investigation of Johnny’s disappearance highlights these forces and ignites an acrimonious public confrontation at a buying scow near the fishing grounds. But it also provides new insights that finally allow him to identify the killer.
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Here is what Amy Daugherty, Executive Director of the Alaska Trollers Association in Juneau, had to say about Don’s new book:
“So glad to see our special little fishery described in this novel. Don has illustrated and largely documented our still surviving abet languishing rural Southeast Alaska harvesting lifestyle that we hope to protect for our children to experience. Catching salmon with hook and line on the ocean and bays throughout the archipelago represents a freedom rare these days.”
Reviewer Grant Leishman for Readers Favorite gave this book 5 stars and said:
“Secret Places by Don Stuart is a thoroughly educational and enthralling murder mystery set in the windswept and wildly rugged salmon fishing fields of the Alaskan panhandle. . . . Author Don Stuart has perfectly blended his obvious love of the Alaskan wild and its fishing community with a well-balanced murder mystery. . . .[T]he author gave me a sound education and still managed to seamlessly weave a twisting ‘whodunnit’ into the narrative. The relating of the story from multiple perspectives not only gives the narrative greater depth but also allows the reader to better understand the lead characters’ motivations. . . I love books that educate as well as entertain and this story impressively achieves that aim. I highly recommend this read.”