The entire town of Point Mettier (based on Whittier, Alaska) lives under one roof. A previous military expansion, the ‘Dave-Co’, now houses 205 full time residents. There are two take out places, an infirmary, a church, a post office, and a small general store that service this area this area that has winter for 8 months of the year. When a severed hand and foot wash up on the shores of Point Mettier, Anchorage PD is brought in to investigate. While the initial cause of death is being labeled a suicide, Office Cara Kennedy thinks it might be tied to a string of other murders. When an avalanche closes the only way in or out of town, Cara finds herself trapped in the ‘Dave-Co’. Without a way out of town and the town residents reluctant to help, Kennedy is set on finding what secrets they’re hiding. In order to uncover the truth, she’ll need to survive the claustrophobia of staying in a town all under one roof.
I am obsessed with Alaskan based thrillers. Alaska as a whole is extremely interesting to me, and while I’ve only visited once, I would love to explore the state more. But maybe in the summer-time. The way Yamashita has crafted the town/setting is excellently done and probably my favorite aspect of the book. This is a perfect snowy day thriller for sure.
Using multiple POVs, Iris Yamashita did a fabulous job of creating realistic and engaging characters. Cara- a detective suffering from PTSD and struggling to control her own personal grief is one of our POVs. Her view is typical of a police procedural but has the added level of PTSD, which I thought was executed well. Amy, a 17 yr old resident and our second POV, is a typical teenager but is somewhat a complex character. Lastly, we have Lonnie, who’s difficult life has brought her to Point Mettier. Lonnie really stood out to me, as Yamashita did a fabulous job of portraying her mental struggles and the way she views the world. Outside of our three narrators, every other resident/character we meet is quirky and well developed, especially for being for being sub characters. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Yamashita can craft realistic and flawed characters so well, when she’s been nominated for an Oscar as a screenwriter for ‘Letters from Iwo Jiwa’.
While I found parts of the story to be slow, overall this was an interesting thriller. My biggest complaint is that I didn’t know this was going to be a series, and I have so many questions about Cara’s storyline now! 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
City Under One Roof is out now. Huge thank you to Berkley Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.
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