A Gift Before Dying

 

A Gift Before Dying by Malcolm Kempt is a detective novel that takes place in Alaska, specifically above the Arctic Circle in desolate territory that is barely inhabited by the Inuit. Not only is the territory sparsely inhabited, but there is only minimal infrastructure. Cell phones don’t work. This is one of the darkest stories I’ve read about a failed detective who has essentially been assigned to this territory as a punishment for botching a prior famous murder investigation. Corporal Elderick Cole’s life is further troubled when he finds the hanging body of a teenage girl, Pitseolala, who he had vowed to protect. Initially, the case is thought to be a suicide, but Cole figures out it was murder. Meanwhile, the Inuits with whom he interacts are often drunk, and the skies are always without sunlight. Plus, the temperatures, snow, and wind are nearly always brutal. 

As Cole pursues the case, he constantly reflects on his own failed marriage and the failure of his relationship with his only child, a teenage daughter. If he can solve the case of Pitseolala’s murder, at least he would have saved one aspect of his failed life. It’s a well-written story, but all the characters are depressed, drunk, stoned, and otherwise troubled. As a reader, I found it hard to find someone with whom I could identify.