In honor of Mystery Month, I reviewed Massacre at Beer Creek Lodge, the latest novel by Alaskan Wilderness Mystery writer, Robin Barefield. Barefield is also one of the six authors in this issue who answered our questions about writing mysteries
She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is also a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. She lives on Kodiak Island in Alaska where she and her husband, photographer Mike Munsey, own a remote lodge.
Barefield has written five mystery novels set in the Alaskan wilderness and Kodiak Island Wildlife, a nonfiction book about the biology and behavior of the land and marine mammals on and near Kodiak Island. She has a podcast series about true crime in Alaska and a free monthly Mystery Newsletter about true crime and mystery in Alaska.
Alaska State Trooper Dan Patterson has seen his share of violent deaths in the Alaskan wilderness, but even he is not prepared for the carnage at Beer Creek Lodge. Eight people have been murdered in their sleep. The lodge owners, Bob and Jules Bartlett were hacked to death with an ax and six guests were shot in their beds at the guest cottage. The only survivors of the attack are the cook, Elle and house maid, Susan who were sleeping upstairs.
Part of what makes Barfield’s mysteries so interesting is her attention to detail. Patterson must follow police procedure while coping with the challenges of solving a crime in a remote location. He and his crime team must fly to the crime scene. Questioning neighbors involves walking miles through the wilderness while avoiding bears and other wild animals or taking a boat across the lake.
In a murder investigation, time and communication are crucial, but when the crime is in a remote location, cell phone reception and internet access are hard to come by. It takes hours to reach the crime scene and valuable evidence can be lost or disturbed before the crime scene can be secured. Processing such a large crime scene requires Patterson’s team to bring camping gear and supplies because once started, they can’t leave until the whole area has been thoroughly searched and any evidence has been collected.
Patterson must also secure any potential witnesses to keep them safe and any suspects to prevent them from tampering with or destroying evidence.
The guests were shot execution style while they slept, but the ferocity of the ax blows indicate the murders of Bob and Jules were personal. Based on this information the team zeroes in on the Bartletts and who would have a motive to kill them.
Could it be their estranged children, Brian, and Deb? They were both at the lodge before the murders. Could one or both of them have returned by boat to kill their parents? But why would they murder the guests and spoil any chance of keeping the lodge open and profitable?
Bob Bartlett was a difficult man. He quarreled with Jules, his children, and his neighbors. It was hard to find anyone with anything nice to say about him, but Jules was popular and well liked. Could she have been collateral damage?
Why didn’t Elle or Susan hear anything that night? Why were they spared? Why would someone murder the six guests while they slept? If they were all sleeping, surely none of them saw the killer(s).
When one of the Bartlett’s neighbors and a prime suspect in their murder is also murdered, Patterson finds himself back at square one in a frustrating game of wits with the killer.
Other Books by Robin Barefield:
Big Game
Murder Over Kodiak
The Fisherman’s Daughter
Karluk Bones
Kodiak Island Wildlife