Thought this one was pretty good. Love the area, the way the author made the weather and the location so important to the story. ( )

Gus Carpenter grew up in Starvation, a little town in Michigan. He eventually left town to became a reporter with the Detroit Times. The story that almost won him the Pulitzer Prize also lost him his job and his reputation. He returned to Starvation and the only job he could secure, as editor of the small town local paper working for his old boss. The townspeople haven't forgotten that Gus was the boy who allowed the winning goal that lost the local hockey team the state championship. His old coach drowned after his snowmobile fell through the ice of a local lake. But when pieces of the same snowmobile show up in another lake Gus starts to investigate what really happened, and finds more than he bargained for. This was a fantastic small town mystery story with interesting characters and a compelling story. I'll be looking forward to the next story Gruley writes. ( )

A remarkable debut mystery full of reminders that small town life on the east side of Lake Michigan isn't all that different than small town life on my own west side of it. Of the many plot elements that I'm almost always a sucker for, being a reporter for a modest local newspaper ranks high on the list, so the protagonist in this one really works for me, and he's surrounded by all sorts of interesting folks, many of whom have secrets of their own. And even though hockey is way down my list of sports interests, Gruley makes that aspect of the story extremely interesting, as well. Heck, I may even have to add hockey to my existing list of baseball, college football and college hoops. A central element of the main plot of this one might make some people squeamish, and I won't reveal it since I don't want to spoil the story. Suffice it to say that it is handled as delicately as possible, but no one will confuse it with a Disney movie. As usual, there are some aspects to the story that didn't work well for me, in particular the collective level of denial in a small town and some of the things surrounding a female character who seemed to be forgotten in the end. But there will always be things to question in any story, and taken as a whole, this was a great outing. And after reading the author's comments at the end of the book, I'm convinced that Gruley is a guy I'd enjoy sharing a PBR or two with, whether on his side of the lake or my own. ( )

OOH, I liked this even though I did kind of figure out what was happening early on. ( )

Bryan Gruley's first mystery is a corker. What I liked best: the Northern Michigan setting, the hockey, the insight into the newspaper business, the "coming of age" feel portrayed in the character development.
Starvation Lake was well plotted and hung together, paced well and had a few surprises (without abandoning logic). Off to find what else he's published :) ( )