Loyal to the bone, Edie Kiglatuk, a northern guide, had reluctantly agreed to leave her home in Autisaq on the high Arctic in Ellesmere Island to travel down south to Anchorage, Alaska to help her ex-husband, Sammy Inukpuk compete in the treacherous Iditarod dog sled race as part of his healing journey over the death of his son.

Finding the south too noisy, hot, despite the freezing cold temperatures, and emotionally upsetting to be there, Edie sets off for a walk in a forest near town to calm her spirits. Suddenly, she realizes she is being watched by an unusual bear. Of mixed heritage from an Inuk mother and Qalunaat father (as Inuit called white folks), Edie is an excellent hunter and had a strong understanding of bears and the land. But, as she had only been in Alaska for a few hours, she lost her bearings after following the bear for a while. Then, after getting directions from a taciturn couple on a snowmobile, she heads back to her vehicle and spot a small yellow object in the drifted snow. As she brushes off the snow, she realizes it is a spirit house with a small bundle inside. Edie is shocked when she discovers it is the small frozen body of a baby boy with an unknown symbol on him. Who did this to him?

After rushing back to town, Edie is stunned by the lack of interest by the police and detects that they seem too eager to pin it on the couple she had briefly met in the woods. She soon finds out the couple on the snowmobile belonged to a religious group called the Old Believers, a breakaway sect from the Russian Orthodox Church, that had left over 400 years ago. Due to the date of their leaving, many people stereotyped and hated them as being Dark Believers.

Could they really have done this? Driven by her strong need for justice and her own personal issues, Edie sets off to find out who the baby belongs to, so a proper burial can be done. Calling in for help from Sargent Derek Palliser, Sammy's good friend and who is in Nome, Alaska managing the northern support for Sammy, Edie starts to unravel the trails of far reaching conspiracies and political sabotage. But when the petite Edie is violently attacked, Palliser has to make tough choices between helping Edie and protecting Sam who is travelling by himself over the dangerous wild terrain of Alaska on his 1150 miles journey. Will Sam be make to make this trip that is so important to his heart? Can Edie and Sam find a way through the deceit and cover-ups before their own lives become too endangered?

Best-selling author of White Heat, M. J. McGrath has written another utterly engaging mystery that both exposes the hidden and dank underbelly of Alaskan criminal and political activities while providing well-researched and, at times quite humorous, insights into the life and customs of both Inuit and North American customs. The plot development in THE BOY IN THE SNOW is exciting and captivating and the story is filled with realistic characters, ranging from corrupt politicians, Russian women held as sex slaves, Old Believers trying to live an isolated life, to native parents dealing with the fallout of modern lifestyles and their long held traditions.

Edie Kiglatuk is an intrepid and intriguing heroine and I was totally entranced by her as a character. I just loved the way, despite her own imperfections and faults, she is able to draw upon her own knowledge of the land, traditional customs, and use her intuition and guidance from teachings from both her parents' cultures to help her to figure out what to do next. Now, I can't wait to read another Edie Kiglatuk mystery! So, curl up and enjoy! You won't regret it!