Tourists sailing the Inside Passage north to Alaska go past Wrangell somewhere between Ketchikan and Juneau, little suspecting the riches - and the dangers - hidden in the rocky waters to starboard. Straits, bays, passages, points, islands all make up the landscape. It is there that Marcia Simpson's deeply felt, vivid prose causes scenes to leap off the page so you can imagine juddering across the storm-tossed, wintry seas surrounding Wrangell where Liza Romero steers her old craft in and out of small Alaskan ports delivering cargo and books. She's used to flirting with disaster.

A thud rocks Salmon Eye early one morning. A humpback whale now dives right over the boat, narrowly missing a full-body crash. But whales are usually sharp navigators. Other incidents convince Liza that the whales and dolphins of Sumner Strait are dangerously disoriented. Why?

Though Alaska may offer a haven where people can escape their pasts and build new lives, it is a wilderness. No less dangerous are the two-legged animals who live there. Liza Romero is one of the tough breed who survives, but who has compassion for the victims of its seas and shores.

Genre: Mystery