Less than a Treason - Kate Shugak, Bk 21 Author:Dana Stabenow Kate Shugak is a native Aleut working as a private investigator in Alaska. She's 5'1" tall, carrires a scar that runs from ear to ear across her throat, and owns a half-wolf, half-husky dog named Mutt. Resourceful, strong-willed, defiant, Kate is tougher than your average heroine -- and she needs to be, to survive the worst the Alas... more »kan wilds can throw at her. And throw their worst the wilds have: Kate and Mutt have both been shot.« less
This is both a "standard Kate Shugak" and very much not "standard" as there are some very different plot twists. Next (hopefully not last) in the series, it would read acceptably as a stand-alone. This Alaskan likes Stabenow's take on Alaska.