My mother-in-law, being the kind person she is, loves to buy me books and frequently does so on my birthday and other gift giving occasions. This Thanksgiving we visited my in-laws in Northern Minnesota and she insisted that I let her buy me a book; she even allowed me to pick one out at the local book store. I decided to pick a book in keeping with the holiday spirit and the fact that I was visiting the North. The book I found, Season's Revenge, seemed to fit.

The book, written by Chicago Sun-Times book editor and literary columnist Henry Kisor, centers around a mystery in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The main character, deputy sheriff Steve Martinez, is puzzled why a skilled hunter and camper - the victim, Paul Passoja, is also the wealthy and powerful town patron - would allow himself to be killed by a bear. Particularly puzzling is the bacon grease smeared on his tent. Was this just a random bear attack or something more sinister? Despite these questions the case is soon closed and marked down as a tragic accident. But Steve just can't help wondering about that bacon. This loose end leads Martinez to pursue his own investigation and in the process discover a great deal about the community he calls home.

What makes this book interesting, however, is not the basic mystery plot; although that is certainly intriguing. What makes the book unique is that it uses the mystery as a device to explore issues more common in a traditional novel. Steve Martinez turns out to be an full blooded Lakota or Sioux Indian (Native American in today's language) that was adopted and raised "white" by a family in upstate New York. His love interest, Ginny Fitzgerald, is the town historian but she has an interesting past as well, one that that is slowly revealed as the story unfolds. Besides the main characters there are a number of smaller ones that play key roles in the story as well. There is the beautiful, and much younger, wife of the victim. There is Steve's sexually and socially aloof co-worker who has a soft spot for abused children and a barely controlled rage for those who abuse them. There are barkeeps, odd recluses, and, bear experts. All of these characters come together to present an interesting and effective setting.