Mortal Fall

Finished September 4
Mortal Fall by Christine Carbo

This is the second novel in the series set in Glacier National Park. Here the main character is GNP's police officer Monty Harris, who also appeared in the first book, The Wild Inside. As the book begins, Harris is investigating the death of a man who is found at the bottom of a cliff near the Going to the Sun Road. At first, it appears to be a horrible accident, but soon Harris finds anomalies that don't fit. With the victim being an experienced park worker, and the fall site not an overly dangerous place, Harris starts looking harder at the victim's life.
The victim, Paul Sedgewick, known as Wolfie for his research on wolverines, was a family man, with a passion for the animal he researched. When another body is found nearby, the case grows more confusing. Is it a coincidence or not?
As Harris digs, he finds links to his own past and the correctional school his older brother Adam attended. He hasn't talked to his brother in years and doesn't have good feelings towards him. Will this influence his decisions on the case.
Harris is aware that leading his first major case is something he wants to do to prove himself to his superiors, and with his personal life falling apart, he must rely on others to assist him in the case despite his natural independence.
We see deep into Harris' personal issues here and that makes his character really come alive. The story also makes the park a big part of the story as the setting for the events.

The Wild Inside

Finished December 5
The Wild Inside by Christine Carbo

This mystery novel is set in Glacier National Park. Ted Systead is an agent for the Department of the Interior, working out of Denver. Ted is assigned to investigate a disturbing killing in the park, where a man was killed by a grizzly. While a bear killing would not be within Ted's purview, the victim was tied to a tree before the bear killed him. The case is unusual and disturbing, but it also takes Ted back to the horrific event that happened when he was fourteen. He and his father were camping at Oldman Lake in the southeast end of the park, when a grizzly attacked them in the night, dragging Ted's father from the tent and killing him. Ted's boss doesn't seem to have connected the current case with Ted's past, so Ted flies in and begins to tackle the case.
The local park police assign an officer to assist him, and Ted both resents and depends upon Monty, finding that he has good instincts. As the case leads them to old girlfriends, relatives, and the drug trade, they discover that the victim wasn't very likeable, and while a lot of people may have wanted him dead, no one seems likely to have gone to the level of planning that seems to have been done. Ted is forced to confront his issues with his past, and rely on his experience and intuition to draw out the real story behind this crime.
I love Glacier National Park and love to read a mystery where I am familiar with the landscape and geography. I also liked the depth of character shown here. Ted is a good officer, but he has never really dealt with the nightmare of what happened to him and the aftermath. That avoidance has affected his relationships and not allowed him to move forward in his personal life. We see what is going through his mind, his good instincts and his bad ones. He is real and likeable. The story is interesting and complex with a victim that is easy to find deserving of a bad end. But we see his history as well, and find that it is also complex. This is definitely an author to look for more by.

This High Wild Country

Finished March 13
This High, Wild Country: a celebration of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park by Paul Schullery and Marsha Karle
I had to grab this book when I saw it. Growing up in Alberta (mostly), and in a family that camped and hiked, we spent a lot of times in the parks. My high school years were spent in southern Alberta, and we went to Waterton often. I've been less often to Glacier, but loved what I did see of it.
I've hiked Red Rock Canyon many times, and still have the bear bells I'd attach to my runners when hiking the switchback trail from Waterton town site.
This book brought back the memories, with Schullery's text and Karle's wonderful artwork, the parks came alive again. This is a gem of a book about a very special set of parks.