I love this isolated Alaskan village with its residents of misfit toys. The storyline is recognizable but the interaction among these eclectic characters keeps the book going. There is enough action to keep adrenaline junkies happy and an explosive ending to seal the deal. I would suggest you read the first one to get a background of all the participants.

Recommended!

Corporate secrets, forensic clues, and several gun fights, all taking place in the snowy Alaskan setting, provide plenty of chills and thrills.

This was an interesting and engaging return to the small Alaskan town of Point Mettier, though the town itself does not feature as prominently in this novel as it did in the first installment. However, some of its residents do, as does Anchorage PD detective, Cara Kennedy. The titular village is a different, but equally intriguing location called Unity, and it serves a similar purpose to Point Mettier, though its ultimate role in the plot is not revealed until late in the story.

Detective Kennedy is still hunting for clues regarding the deaths of her husband and son, and the more she learns, the more she is convinced they were victims of a larger series of crimes. As she investigates, she learns of connections to other people in both of the small towns, as well as Anchorage proper, and ultimately makes a startling discovery.

The only reason I couldn't quite give it 5 stars like I did the first title is that the chemistry between Cara and JB just wasn't there. More development of that subplot would have helped to make their connection believable and elevated this another star for me.

Overall, a good follow-up to the first book in the series.

My first book by this author, there were a lot of things i liked about it. learning about Alaskan culture, the story was interesting, particularly for me the more psychological and ethical issues, it veered towards too much action for my taste, towards the end and that didn't work for me. But overall, I liked it

Village in the Dark by Iris Yamashita
Cara Kennedy #2

Anchorage Detective Cara Kennedy, on disability due to failing her psych test after extreme emotional trauma, is still staying very busy. She's had her husband and young son's bodies dug up and retested because of rumors she's heard. She now realizes someone was after them and other people but she isn't sure of the connection to all those people. Her boyfriend, Point Mettier police officer Joe Barkowski, is more than ready to back Cara up even though doing so could lead the to end of their relationship.

We see the story from three POVs. There is Cara's POV, Mia's POV, and Ellie's POV. Ellie has really grown on me. She's a 60 something, red wigged, go getter. She was a former thief, bank robber, and more but she's pulled herself together and runs an inn in the one building city of Point Mettier. She's got a great collection of weapons and she's woman on a mission when she gets after something. I'd want her on my side in any battle.

Mia grew up in a village of mostly women and children, one of many hiding places where women go with their children to get away from abusive men. But she decides to make her way out into Man’s World, where she eventually runs into something that ties together what Cara and Ellie are fighting. All heck breaks loose more than once and all three women have to fight for their lives. I'm not sure if there will be another book but I hope so, I've become fond of many of the characters in this book and the one before it and I know they can make headway into more of the evil that ails this world.

Thank you to Elisha at Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC.

This is a sequel to City Under One Roof, continuing Det. Cara Kennedy’s life in Alaska. My honest review is that I like these books, but I’m not entirely sure why. This one had a pretty convoluted plot where you had to suspend reality quite a bit, but that’s almost the appeal. Somehow it works, but this might not be for everyone. If you enjoyed City Under One Roof, you will enjoy this one as well.

I used to love these kind of books, but I think my taste has changed a lot. It also made me feel a little claustrophobic being set in a city in a building. Well written but just not for me.

When new information about the deaths of her husband and son comes to light, Detective Cara Kennedy has their bodies exhumed. The results from the lab are shocking and send Cara on a journey to find the truth. Melding into her story is that of Mia, a young woman raised in a remote Alaskan village designed to protect battered women and children. When Mia decides to leave Unity and venture into "Man's World" she soon becomes entangled in a crime of proportions she cannot fathom. With a cast of quirky Alaskan characters, to help propel the plot lines to their merging point, "Village in the Dark" reads like a movie script. Readers will be able to see the action scenes clearly as well as the snowy Alaskan backdrop. If you like fast paced action tales, you'll want to read this one.

This is book two in the fabulous series focusing on a one building town in rural Alaska (CITY UNDER ONE ROOF).

When we last left the citizens, Detective Cara Kennedy thought she’d lost her husband and son in a horrible accident. Unable to deal with the trauma she is still on leave. A clue however, has lead her to believe that it wasn't an accident and the bodies she buried are exhumed. Another known character, Mia Upash, is running form something and using different alias and blue collar jobs to make a life. She has no doubt tha the people she is running from are closing in.

As the events come to a head, Mia and Cara are forced to work together and the secrets of book one are enough to shock everyone (us as well!). I love this concept, I love learning about the hard scrabble life in Alaska and every character is complicated, intense and exciting. If you like police stories, second chances, unforgiving weather or all of the above, Village In The Dark is for you! #Vilageinthedark #IrisYamashita #penguin #randomhouse

good sequel to the City Under One Roof. I looooved the first book. I like the reclusive, locked city, and its mysteries. You can read it as a standalone, probably, but I'd highly recommend reading the first book.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book early! I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was very well done, and the story kept me interested. I believe my students/patrons would also love this book and will be acquiring it for the library!

Iris Yamashita’s City Under One Roof, a debut mystery, introduced an Alaskan city, Point Mettier, that houses 205 residents all in one building. Two of the women featured in that book return in leading roles in Village in the Dark.

Cara Kennedy was a detective with the Anchorage Police Department until the disappearance of her husband, Aaron and son, Dylan. After searching for them, and burying the bodies, she failed her psych evaluation, and was placed on disability. New evidence indicates those bodies might not have been her son and husband. She has the bodies exhumed, only to learn the DNA is not theirs. Where are Aaron and Dylan?

Ellie Wright is the owner of Cozy Condo Inn in Point Mettier. She chose to live in Point Mettier to protect herself from her husband, who was in prison. But, when Ellie’s son, Timothy, is found dead in his apartment, she handles the funeral. She’s shocked when her husband shows up.

Mia Upash is a waitress working in a diner in Willow, Alaska. But, the half-Japanese, half-white young woman has changed her name several times, and moved around. She’s uneasy enough to feel it’s time to return to her home village, Unity. The isolated villaged is a refuge for women who suffered from sexual assault and oppression. Mia’s Japanese mother brought her there when she was young, but she wanted to experience life in the outside world.

All three women are brought together by search for answers, violent answers that are driven by greed and outside entities. They’ll need the help of other strong people who sought shelter in Alaska.

Village in the Dark is another compelling story set in an isolated region. The isolation, and the people who survive in it, are fascinating. In this book, Yamashita adds stories of women who suffered from abuse in the worst state for violent crime against women. In this case, the women fight back.

I eagerly devoured the preceding adventure of Detective Cara Kennedy in "City Under One Roof," and my anticipation for this sequel had been building since the spine-tingling cliffhanger that hinted at a possible connection between the deaths of Cara's husband and son and the departed gang member, Michael Lovansky. Why would a notorious gang member, whom she had never encountered, possess a family photo featuring her alongside random individuals?

Before delving into the sequel and unveiling the resolution to the central enigma, let's recap the journey thus far: Cara Kennedy, an aspiring detective at the Anchorage Police Department, grappled with the profound loss of her husband Aaron, a manager at a pharmatech company's research division, and her six-year-old son Dylan, whose remains were tragically discovered in the Talkeetna wilderness. Her focus turned to cases involving missing persons and dismembered body parts, which included a series of extremities washing ashore along the Pacific Northwest and Canadian coastlines. This pursuit led her to the enigmatic enclave of Point Mettier—a remote city accessed through a constricting tunnel—where its 205 inhabitants inhabited a single towering condominium. Remarkably, Cara untangled the web of a seemingly unrelated murder, a resolution independent of her own personal losses.

Within this cityscape, she successfully resolved a gang-related crime, securing a second chance at love with Officer J. B., someone whose existence teetered on the brink during a gang altercation.

However, tethered by an inexplicable link to her past, Cara's curiosity crystallizes when she stumbles upon Ellie, the manager of Point Meittier, who too shares a connection to those photographs. Ellie's son, recently lost to an overdose, is among the figures in those images, prompting an unlikely alliance born of shared grief. Their partnership as grieving mothers embarks on a quest for the truth.

Cara's investigations unearth a startling revelation—individuals within those photographs are either deceased or missing. Among them is Mia Upash, whose trail leads Cara to Unity, an insular village. Unity houses women and children who have retreated from the clutches of abusive men, dwelling by their own code and subsisting through hunting, fishing, and embracing the bounties of nature. Mia's departure from the sanctuary to the world beyond, driven by love, thrusts her into peril, casting her into a cabin hidden within the woods. Could Mia's journey hold the answers to the myriad missing and deceased individuals?

Cara's relentless pursuit uncovers yet another seismic revelation, setting her on a perilous trajectory—one that may ensnare not only herself but also her compatriot in crime, J. B.

The second installment in this series proved to be a fast-paced, heart-pounding page-turner that held me captive, making it virtually impossible to relinquish. My return to Point Meittier offered the delight of further immersion into the lives of its distinctive, resilient, and singular characters. The gratifying culmination of their narratives, devoid of any loose ends, is the cherry atop this literary endeavor.

Deserving of my esteemed five stars, I wholeheartedly recommend indulging in both volumes of this series. My heartfelt gratitude extends to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for generously granting me access to the digital advance copy of this intellectually riveting and exceptional work, in exchange for my candid insights.