Author: Iris Yamashita

Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group

ISBN: 9780593336670

A detective investigates a case related to a personal tragedy. In order to do so, she’ll have to face one of her greatest fears and deal with the residents of a small town who all share a building. Author Iris Yamashita puts her screenwriting talent to work in her entertaining, compelling debut novel City Under One Roof.

Cara Kennedy has spent a year trying to get herself back on track with life. A detective on leave from the force in Anchorage, Alaska, Cara knows it’s not easy to get over the disappearance of her husband and son in a horrific hiking accident. Even though she finally received evidence of their death, she still grapples with how she lost her family in such a dramatic fashion, why it took so long to find them, and who is responsible.

When she gets word of a possible crime that might be related to the death of her husband and son, Cara jumps on the first chance to visit the tiny town of Point Mettier. Never mind that no one in Point Mettier knows she’s technically on leave from the force and that the only way to enter the town is through a tunnel under a mountain. Even with her claustrophobia on high alert as she makes that journey, Cara is determined to find out whether the events in Point Mettier are connected to her.

They’re also odd enough to warrant investigation on their own. A severed hand and a foot wash up on the shore of Point Mettier, sending the community into a frenzy. The entire town lives in the building of the Davidson Condos. Although tourist season brings its fair share of people, only a core group—just above 200—lives in Point Mettier year-round. Crimes are petty at best. No one commits murder, and they certainly don’t do it to such a gruesome degree.

At first, Chief Sipley, the police chief, and his younger partner, Joe Barkowski, are grateful for Cara’s presence. It seems almost fortuitous that she arrived just when they needed someone. But Cara hasn’t been forthcoming about her leave of absence, and when the chief and Joe find out it leaves them wondering whether they can trust Cara. Which she figures out is more or less the vibe for the whole town. Everyone has secrets, and everyone knows that they can only trust each other as long as their secrets can carry them.

Mixed into all this is teenager Amy who lives in the town under the thumb of her overbearing mother. At 17, Amy feels like she’s old enough to do what she wants, but that’s hard when her mother and the entire town knows what she’s up to. The fact that she has a boyfriend is a big enough secret for her to hide from her mother; then Amy finds herself caught up in the mystery of the murder victim, and things get even more complicated. 

Author Iris Yamashita writes with an ease and deft not seen in the work of some debut authors. She clearly knows what she wants from her story and characters and how to get it. Her plot points link to one another in a tight chain of events that remains taut from start to finish.

If the book can be faulted anywhere, it’s in the fact that even though more than 200 people live in Point Mettier readers are only fully aware of a handful. While this handful consists of everyone important to the story, at some point it’s easy enough to forget that anyone else lives in the Davidson Condos. Were it not for the forced proximity of the characters because of the Alaskan weather, readers might mistake the setting of the book for any small town.

Regardless, the book has an almost noir feeling to it with only the best elements of that genre reflected here. The observations of Point Mettier resident Lonnie are excellent in their wordplay. The appearance of another minor character in various points of the book who also shows up at the end may not have been necessary, and the ending might make some wonder whether a sequel is coming. If it is, most readers won’t be disappointed.

I recommend readers Bookmark City Under One Roof.