Cultural anthropologist Wolfe combines an engaging look at native Alaskan culture and a puzzling whodunit in this series launch. During a storm at sea, a “ghostly mass” emerges out of the mist and engulfs Francisco Muñoz, an undocumented worker, on a fishing boat. Muñoz, whose corpse eventually washes ashore, is initially believed to have drowned, but an autopsy reveals that he was crushed to death. Meanwhile, the folks at the Fish and Game department want to solve the mystery of three dead walruses, beheaded for their ivory. Two anthropology students, Nick John and Mac Cleary, who have been studying the possible impact of proposed changes to the rules governing commercial herring fishing near the Walrus Island Sanctuary, investigate. John and Cleary’s assignment soon morphs into something much more complex. Wolfe tosses an unexplained biological phenomenon into a story line that will appeal to Paul Doiron fans. (BookLife)