City Under One Roof

When local teenager Amy Lin discovers a severed hand & foot washed ashore Port Mettier Alaska, detective Cara Kennedy is on the case. Cara has her own motives for wanting to find out who the victim is and why after dealing with the deaths of her husband and son. They can only get their clues from a tunnel. Unfortunately, after a blizzard hits, the tunnel is closed, and Cara has to deal with the residents who might be colder than ice and every one of them is running from something or has something to hide. With the help of police officer Joe Barkowski, Cara, Joe, and the other residents will have to face off against fearsome gang members from a nearby native village. Will Cara be able to solve the case before time runs out?  

Writing, Characters & Twists

Iris Yamashita is an excellent writer. I love how the book is from the point of view of three women Cara, Amy & Lonnie, though my favorite points of views to read from was Cara & Amy. Other characters I did like were Mariko the singer from Japan fleeing her past & Joe, the man who develops feelings for Cara. There was also some character growth on Cara’s part when it came to her and Joe possibly developing a relationship and her realizing that she had to stop holding on to the past and love again. There were so many twists. I did not see the twist as to who the murderer was, and I also liked the twist with the little girl Cara met. The cliffhanger leaves open for the sequel Village In The Dark. I didn’t have many complaints just that the pacing seemed too slow at times. There are some gruesome bits in the book, so be mindful of that before picking it up if it’s not your thing.

Overall

Overall, Iris did an excellent job with her debut novel. I can’t wait to read more of Cara’s adventures in Village In The Dark on the Netgalley app (and hopefully many more books) and to do the Behind The Book with Iris. If you enjoy mystery novels that will keep you up trying to find all the pieces, you will enjoy City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita.