The Wolves of Winter

Finished March 23
The Wolves of Winter by Tyrell Johnson

This is book is set in the near future, in a world ravaged by war and disease. Lynn, short for Gwendolyn, lives in the woods in the Yukon with her mother, brother, uncle, and the son of her uncle's best friend. She is in her early twenties, and an accomplished outdoorswoman and bow hunter. Her father was a biologist, who had worked in Chicago for the federal government, but left shortly after the wars began. The family moved to Alaska, where her uncle lived, and as the wars grew worse, and then the deadly flu began to spread, they made plans to leave the town of Eagle for the wilderness. Before this could happen, Lynn's father died from the flu. She was sixteen. Her uncle Jeryl convinced her mom, a school librarian, to join him in their trek away from town, and they travelled to the wilderness of the Yukon forests with a few guns and ammunition, some farm animals, some seeds, and other supplies for survival.
They've found a spot near a river, and build a few log homes and a small garden, and have managed to survive with the help of a small garden, and hunting. There is another man, Conrad, who showed up a few years ago, and lives a few miles away, but his behaviour has created animosity, and he is only tolerated as a neighbour.
Shortly after the book begins, Lynn comes across another stranger, a man and a dog, while out hunting, and brings them back to her camp for a meal, and to get news. Jax is both a source of outside news, and a threat to the various members of the camp, and when it turns out that he has secrets that will put them in danger, the mundane, boring life that Lynn has been leading changes drastically.
As Jax and Lynn's group learn more about each other, they find that their lives have been linked before. A great adventure tale.

Strange Things Done

Finished January 25
Strange Things Done by Elle Wild

This mystery is set in Dawson City in the Yukon. Journalist Jo Silver made the wrong choice when reporting the story of a serial killer in Vancouver, and because she was talked out of warning the public of his methods, a woman died. The blowback was bad, but Jo feels remorse even more strongly than the criticism she's received.
Jo is looking for a new start, and took the job on a small newspaper called the Dawson Daily. She finds once she gets to her new job that the newspaper is even smaller than she thought, and that it isn't daily, but weekly. The outgoing editor gives her some basic orientation, and will be approving any stories until he leaves. But he seems to have a different view on journalism than Jo, and doesn't want to share the information she's sure is important to her new community. Why is that?
After her experience in Vancouver, she doesn't take all the advice she gets on not reporting what she's discovered on the death of a local woman well at all, and this increases her distrust of her new acquaintances.
Jo has been used to drowning her guilt in alcohol lately, and on her first night in town she got drunk, accepted a ride home from a man she barely knew, and doesn't remember much about what happened after that. Bryne seems like a nice guy but Jo is no longer sure who to trust.
Her new housemate Sally, a dancer seems to have secrets and a real attitude too. Jo isn't sure whether she likes her or not. And the local RCMP guy is awful good looking, but Jo's recent experiences haven't made her inclined to trust the police, even though her father is a police officer.
As Jo gradually gets to know the people and issues of Dawson City, she finds her journalistic skills reading true and gets accepted enough to be initiated into the SourToe Cocktail Club.
Jo is a strong character and I hope this is the start of a new mystery series.
I also like the title of the book evoking of my favourite poems The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert Service, a man who lived for many years in Dawson City.

The Whisper of Legends

Finished July 3
The Whisper of Legends by Barbara Fradkin

This novel is part of the Inspector Green series, but here Green ventures away from Ottawa when his daughter Hannah goes missing while on a trip on the Nahanni River.
Hannah has been living with her mother in Vancouver, and her new boyfriend Scott has come up with the idea to do a canoe trip on the Nahanni. Hannah has done some wilderness camping, but nothing like this. She has told her father they are going with a reputable company, but he soon finds that this is not the case. Scott has organized this trip on his own, and not filed a plan for his group with the park.
We see the very beginning of Hannah and her group and see that there are already some things going wrong, Then the story switches to Michael Green and his desperate search for Hannah. Green is also out of his depth here, much more comfortable in an urban environment, but he soons finds local allies who know what they're doing, and his staff sergeant Brian Sullivan has come along. Sullivan supports him, helps with logistics and planning, and checks Green when he gets out of control.
Meanwhile, back home in Ottawa, Green's wife is getting close to her due date for the pregnancy of a girl, and Green is torn about being away from her.
This is an interesting mystery, with a plot that reaches back in time, and a variety of interesting characters, including a local young RCMP officer.