Woman Who Married a Bear

This book is the first in a series of books about Cecil Younger, private investigator. Cecil's life is not the glamorous PI life we often read about. First, Cecil lives in Sitka, Alaska, not the lower 48. Secondly, he loves poetry, broods about the woman who loved him and left him, and he is an unreformed alcoholic. The son of a judge and the brother of a successful lawyer, Cecil is considered the family failure. He, also, will not let go of the search for the "truth" (in all its various guises) of a case once he has started. An elderly resident of a nursing home asks Cecil to find the "truth" about the murder of her son, for which an inmate is serving time following his confession and trial. The seeker soon becomes the hunted after Cecil's housemate is shot and it becomes obvious that Cecil was the target. The tale was engrossing. The settings seemed authentically Alaskan. And Cecil is someone you want to shake to get a grip on his life. I've already ordered the next two in the series.

In Sitka hard boiled drinker Cecil Younger sits outside the Alaskan state run Pioneer Home for the elderly without any money and no idea what happened to his credit card. He cannot afford the ferry to leave town and wonders what cure to try next to battle alcoholism as only Haiku writing so far has helped a little. Cecil blames or thanks his drinking problem depending on how many he already has on his wife deserting him. When his potential client Mrs. Victor finishes her breakfast Cecil enters the facility to talk with her. The elderly Tlingit woman hires Cecil to learn the whole truth why someone killed her son Louis, a big-game guide; she rejects the official position that a crazy man convicted of the murder committed the crime. Needing to escape his troubles and knowing the irony of taking on The Brown Bear Man Case, Cecil agrees to investigate to help the grieving mom get some closure though he expects to find nothing different until someone tries to shoot him. Cecil travels to Juneau and Anchorage to talk with family members and hunting guides not realizing that opening up this solved case could lead to a second murder, his. THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED A BEAR is a terrific Alaskan private investigative tale that grips the audience on several fronts. Readers will appreciate the fallen hero struggling to regain some of his self esteem, but not always succeeding. Cecil's inquiries are electrifying as the suspense mounts with every new person he questions and his tour of Alaska enhances the excitement. Readers will welcome John Straley as a super addition to the forty-ninth state mystery pantheon. Harriet Klausner

"The Woman Who Married A Bear" is an incredibly wonderful novel. It is filled with one-of-a-kind characters who mesh into a compelling, tangled story line. Add to that mix the uniqueness of Sitka, Alaska and and the craftsmanship of Straley as a writer, and you have a fine reading experience. I've ordered the other novels in the Cecil Younger series, and I can't wait to get at 'em.

Straley's novels have the feel of a classic PI novel but the Alaskan setting keeps the stories fresh. The characters are beliveable and can be identified by anyone who has spent anytime in SE Alaska.

I enjoyed this book a lot. The Alaskan setting is beautifully described by someone who knows it intimately. The characters are (mostly) unique and memorable; even the potentially cliche-ridden drunken P.I. Younger has a complicated and intriguing background. The writing is economical in the way good poetry is economical -- comparisons with Raymond Chandler are apt, as he's one of the few mystery writers who manage to achieve the same balance. And the animal characters -- ravens, bears, eagles -- are used brilliantly to enhance the drama of the story. I found the mystery itself rather weak: of COURSE the guy who's doing time for the crime didn't commit it, and the isolated setting means that the number of suspects is necessarily limited. The P.I.'s elderly client doesn't tell him the eponymous legend until very late in the book, but that was a wise decision on the author's part, as it clearly gives away who done it. But the climax is still exciting enough, and calls on all of Younger's considerable resourcefulness. I'm definitely planning to read the rest of the series.