THE SHAMAN'S KNIFE

Inuit Mountie Matteesie Kitologitak (Murder in a Cold Climate, 1989) takes a personal interest in the killing of Dennis Raakwap and his grandmother—because the killers, running out of the murder scene, ran into Matteesie's 90-year-old mother, critically injuring her too. Despite rumors that implicate noted carver/shaman Jonassie Oquatoq and his twin brother Lovering, an Anglican priest, Matteesie and local corporal Alphonse Bouvier soon focus on a scandal-ridden Davidee Ayulaq, his sister Debbie (whom he was once convicted of raping), and her two current rivals—pint-sized newspaper-stringer Byron Anolak and Davidee's best buddy, hulking Donald (Hard Hat) Thrasher. The tangled, forgettable plot is only a pretext for more of the wonderful local details and colorful characters—especially waitress/siren Margaret Johanson and her daughter Maisie, who threw a football player out a window—that made Young's debut so memorable.