Mousse and Murder

Logan, Elizabeth. Mousse and Murder. New York: Berkley Prime Crime, 2020.

In the premiere installment of a new cozy series, Charlie and her cat Benny reside in Alaska where she runs the diner her now-retired parents established. When her chef turns up dead, Trooper deputizes Charlie and a newspaper reporter. Motives for several persons begin to emerge. While some plot elements seem a little far-fetched, I found this a pleasant mystery in an enjoyable setting with local characters I enjoyed. While I did figure it out before the sleuth did, I initially suspected a different person. I loved Benny the cat and his role in the mystery! I received an advance electronic copy through NetGalley with the expectation of an honest review.

Forced to Leave

"Forced to Leave: The Removal of the Unangax̂ of Unalaska, 22 July 1942," Aleutian Voices, vol. 2, no. 1 (2015).

One of the perks of my day job is seeing many of the U.S. government publications arrive in the library. While most are somewhat routine publications that report legislation, Supreme Court cases, and the like, occasionally a really interesting one appears. Such is the case of this second issue of Aleutian Voices. It's a special thematic issue devoted to the forced removal of the Unangax̂ from the city of Unalaska. The issue explores their culture, provides photographs from the time period, and details their removal. It's a short read and does not appear to be available online yet, although the first issue which was dedicated to the S.S. Northwestern is. If you can't make it to a government depository library to peruse the print issue, be sure to keep checking the link to see when this one becomes available.

Interesting Indexing

Among some of the batches I indexed today were two batches from Alaska's 1900 census. These were smaller than normal censuses at 25 records apiece; however, there were more fields which required indexing. The first batch had a lot of blanks in it, but it was a passenger list for arrivals in June 1900. The second batch was in an Eskimo village. None of the inhabitants had surnames. I think there was a Marsha in just about every family. That must have been a popular Eskimo (or Inuit) named back then.