In this novel, a teenage girl’s search for her mother leads to a criminal underworld and an unexpected danger.

Brooklyn is a 16-year-old girl growing up in the small community of Chatham, Alaska. Raised by her single mother, Flo Whiting, a waitress, the teen learned that her father disappeared before her birth. All she knows about her dad is that his first name is Vince and he is a full-blood Tlingit. One afternoon, Brooklyn returns home to find her mother missing and Flo’s bedroom in disarray. Flo leaves a note for Brooklyn assuring her she is safe, but the teen believes this is out of character for her mother. Brooklyn embarks on an investigation into Flo’s disappearance with the help of a local resident named Bingo Bob and discovers that her mother is helping Vince elude Johnny Kwan, his contact in a scheme to illegally sell otter pelts. While preparing a shipment for Kwan in a place called the Grotto, Vince and his partners were infected with rabies carried by bats and otters in the area. Brooklyn’s search soon becomes a race as Kwan closes in on Vince and Flo and as additional cases of rabies appear in the community. This latest novel from Cooper is a fast-paced mystery that skillfully combines a nuanced coming-of-age story with a tense crime thriller. The narrative is anchored by Brooklyn, a teen who feels like an outsider in her community because she is half White and half Tlingit. She gains a new appreciation for the close-knit community of Chatham and forms an unexpected alliance with Tony Jackson, a classmate who initially taunts her at the local community center. The subplot involving Vince is similarly well developed as he navigates staying one step ahead of Kwan while battling rabies. The author’s prose is confident and assured as the story’s tension builds, particularly in a harrowing scene in which tourists Jim and Donna encounter rabid otters. Cooper’s tale may appeal to fans of Sue Henry and Dana Stabenow.

A satisfying mystery with a strong protagonist.

In Cooper’s (Riders of the Tides, 2013) second thriller featuring tribal forester Earl Armstrong, a wealthy man resorts to murder and kidnapping to find an ancient mask on an island off the Washington coast.

While volunteering for the Pacific Northwest section of the Miyako Project, an organization created to help clean up debris from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Earl finds a corpse in the surf. An autopsy suggests possible homicide, and Earl realizes that the dead man, Will, may have been killed on Destruction Island, a marine reserve. Will’s brother, Leon, has the same suspicion, and after strange men spot Leon on the island, someone tries to blow up his boat. It turns out that billionaire antiquities collector Juno Betar is searching for a ceremonial mask hidden in a cave on the island. Earl has “vivid dreams” involving his great-grandfather, Christian Zauner, the island’s first lighthouse keeper, and in one of them, he witnesses the discovery of the mask in the late 19th century. Once Juno learns that Earl may know the mask’s location, the forester and his family become targets. Meanwhile, a Japanese woman named Norika Edo is looking for a ship’s escape pod, lost during the tsunami. The pod contains her husband’s body, but it turns out that yakuza gangsters are after something else in the vessel—a small fortune in diamonds and bearer bonds. Cooper’s novel boasts suspense with a touch of mysticism, along with exciting scenes of chases, murders and kidnappings. Norika and her team’s hunt puts them in the same vicinity as the other characters, but their plots don’t converge until near the very end. Overall, the story of Earl and Juno is more riveting, as Norika’s tale isn’t as fully developed. Still, both stories have memorable moments, as when yakuza boss Yuri Matasuba reminds Norika of her husband’s debt, leaving her with fewer fingers; and when other characters undertake an aquatic attack in underwater caves. Along the way, Cooper also adds nice, spoiler-free references to Earl’s first adventure.