An intricate tale of life in Alaska on a wild life sanctuary surrounded by snow and wilderness combines as the back drop to a tale of murder, deceit and tormenting. The suspects may come and go at regular intervals but the husky dog remains a constant!

Alaska Untamed Mystery series is a cozy mystery series whose protagonist, Stacie Calder, is a naturalist. In the summer she leads tours aboard boats, but in the winter, she works at Juneau Wildlife World, a wild animal sanctuary, with Sasha, her husky companion. This season there is a new manager, Oliver Brownling, who seems to have issues with everyone and everything. He is not happy to have Sasha in the sanctuary, nor is he happy that Stacie seems to take chances with the animals, at least in his mind. When his mauled body is found in a remote part of the sanctuary containing wolves, Stacie is sure it was not from the wolves. Once it is revealed that it was a manmade wound, Stacie becomes a suspect as everyone witnessed her arguments with Oliver. She begins her own investigation as she is sure someone working in the animal sanctuary is guilty. Once the weather worsens and a storm moves in, Stacie and Sasha have to stay at the sanctuary, maybe with a killer.

I really enjoy the setting of this book and the occupation of the protagonist. Learning about Alaska and the animals is a bonus for me. Stacie is a smart character, using her knowledge about the animals and her instincts to solve the crime. With Sasha by her side, she is safer than being alone, which is needed. Although some of the story was repetitive, I enjoyed the mystery and trying to sort out all the clues. This book had a totally new cast of secondary characters with the new season and job, and I enjoyed getting to know them. If you enjoy armchair travel, learning about the outdoors and the animals, all mixed in with a mystery and likable characters, then pick up Cry Wolf or Bear Witness, the first book in this series. I did a read/listen with this book and enjoyed the narration by Suzie Althens. She gives voice to Stacie and the other characters adding enjoyment to the story.

Cry Wolf
Lark O. Jensen
The setting of this book is Juneau, Alaska, early winter. The main character is Stacie Calder, during the summer she does boat tours but with winter coming on she is working at the Juneau Wildlife World. Stacie is a naturalist who looks after the health and safety of wildlife, and she is an amateur investigator. She has special permission to bring her dog, Sasha, a husky, with her to the wildlife sanctuary. A new manager, Oliver Brownling does not want Sasha on the property. He constantly complains about Sasha. He is a difficult person to get along with.
His body is found in a remote part of the sanctuary where the wolves are located. Although his body is clawed and mauled it is obvious that he was murdered by a human. Due to the friction between Oliver and Stacie she is the main suspect. Stacie is determined to discover who murdered Oliver Brownling. Alaskan State Trooper encourages her but also warns her that it will be difficult for her to investigate since she in the main suspect.
I did not care for this book. This is the first book in this series that I have read/listened to. I do not know about the previous books but this one did nothing for me. The dialogue was stiff and artificial. The plot is dull and lacks depth. If I wanted to read a book about wildlife, I would have picked a wildlife book. This was supposed to be a mystery. I am sure there are other readers that will enjoy this book but it wasn’t for me.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a review copy. My reviews are my unbiased opinions.

I love cozies but this is not a favorite. I felt like it was too slow moving and I kept waiting for something to happen. W wanted more of the animals! I also wasn’t a fan of the narrator, she didn’t do anything wrong, I just didn’t feel connected.

Stacie Calder is taking a winter job at Juneau Wildlife World in Alaska. Here she will assist in looking after various animals cared for at the wildlife sanctuary while walking with her dog Sasha.

A new manager does not like Stacie bringing her dog and the publicly clash. The following day he is found dead. Who or what is responsible and what happened.

Well written and well narrated novel (I listened to the audiobook). Lots of insight into the work of a wildlife sanctuary when the winter kicks in. Will Stacie prove she did not kill the manager she clashed with? Read and find out.

A naturing loving mystery solver with an awesome dog, what's NOT to love? I read the 1st book in the series to get ready for this ARC and I am glad I did! I love the relationship brewing between Stacie and Liam, I am rooting for them to work out!! I can't wait to see what Stacie and her pup get up to in the next installment!

#CryWolf
#NetGalley

I sincerely thought I was the target audience for this book, but I was not. Despite not having read the first book in the series, I didn't feel like I was missing a huge amount of backstory because the characters were flat and generic. Initially I was excited about a wildlife sanctuary in Alaska as the setting, imagining I'd find out about running a sanctuary and the wildlife it housed, but there was no information. The employees were tasked with writing daily reports, though we knew nothing about what was included. They also observed moose, wolves, mountain goats, and more, but we learned nothing about them at all. However, we were told all the groceries she bought at the store and what she got from the vending machine for lunch, among other strange, extraneous information. But did we even learn what the wildlife ate, since food prep was such a huge topic of the story? Nope. It was as if the author was talking down to us, telling us what she thought we could handle, which wasn't much. Likely it was just a case of no research being done at all and she had no actual information to impart, which was a shame and a huge missed opportunity.

Stacie was an annoying character, actively trying to piss off all her colleagues knowing full well she was trapped with them and one was a killer. One can make observations without alienating oneself, but apparently she could not. If everyone doesn't hate her for her nonsense in the next book, it will be even less plausible than it already is. And it sure would've been nice if people thought more instead of talked because the dialog was so awkward and stilted, as in the very definition of stilted. Is the author real or was this generated by AI?

Like I said, as a discerning reader, I was not the intended audience, but I've read many cozies between more hard-core literature that were all charming, character-driven, empathetic stories, and this was not.

2 starts because I made it through the book and vaguely was interested in the resolution.

I wasn’t very impressed with book 1 in this series, but I decided to give the second book a try. This book has different issues from the the first but it isn’t an improvement.
The plot is slow and plodding. The conversations are stilted.
I struggle with the placing this in the cozy mystery genre because of the casual sexual relationship between Stacie and Liam that is constantly mentioned from the first page. It’s not like readers don’t know that sex happens, but part of what draws me to cozy mysteries is the lack of bad language, sexual situations and lack of gritty descriptions.
The mystery is an interesting one. The way Stacie investigates kind of put me off. I realize she doesn’t want to be a suspect but the confrontation that occurs with the killer came about because she actively accused people and then pretended she knew what the detectives were planning.
The narrator was fairly good. Although, the narrator may have contributed to the feeling that Stacie was uptight and sanctimonious.
I wouldn’t recommend this book.
Thanks to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to read this book.

This is my first taste of Lark O. Jensen's Alaskan series featuring tour guide Stacie Calder, who is joining the wild animal sanctuary, Juneau Wildlife World team for winter primarily observing and documenting the animals she sees. I chose this because of the location and I listened to it on audio, 8 hours and 15 minutes long, narrated by Suzie Althens, I did not really click with her narration, but she did manage to keep me listening till the end. I think she was a 3 star narrator, but it could be said she was not best served by underdeveloped characters, and poor and stilted writing that struggled to hold my attention. Stacie has a beloved husky, Sasha, and is involved in a friendship with benefits with good looking Alaskan State Trooper, Liam Amaruq.

Stacie's troubles begin with new manager, Oliver Brownling, when she first meets him, he takes an instant dislike to Sasha, telling her she should not have the dog in the sanctuary. He is not happy that she has permission to have Sasha accompany her, subject to conditions that she adheres to. However, matters take a serious turn when Oliver's mutilated mauled body is discovered, in a killing that at first appears to have been carried out by a wolf. Closer examination reveals that this is a misdirection, Oliver has been murdered by a human, and Stacie becomes the prime suspect. She feels driven to begin her own investigation in an effort to clear her name.

Almost everyone is a suspect, but her conversations with them fail to bring her closer to the killer, so she takes to using the strategy of accusing a number of suspects of being the murderer, which had me rolling my eyes. As you might have gathered this is not a book I enjoyed, there was a high level of repetition, and the storytelling and characters were not to my liking. I would have preferred more depth all round, and the location alone was insufficient in holding my interest. I imagine that there are readers who will enjoy this, feel free to read other reviews before deciding whether to read or listen to this. Many thanks to Netgalley for an ALC.