Debut novel about Gus Carpenter, a small town journalist who begins a story he may not want to finish.
This is a great first novel. The characters are quirky and bit too over-the-to[ at times, but still completely enjoyable. The small town setting is all too well described in the upper cold northern Michigan. And, the ending is very satisfying despite some unfinished business. If you like hockey, you'll really like this book.The only major problem is the displaced prologue. ( )

Read for a 4MA discussion. I wasn't taken with the plot and there's a lot of hockey on the page that didn't interest me particularly. On the plus side, the writing is strong and the main character's job as a news editor in a small town seemed very true to life and a good excuse for the narrator to get involved in a criminal investigation.

Wow! An intelligent debut mystery that involves a bunch of well-developed characters who almost skate right off the page. I know absolutely nothing about ice hockey but I was swept up in this snowbound page-turner and couldn't put it down until I reached the last page. Well done, Mr. Gruley. I'm waiting for the next one.... ( )

The small town Michigan setting was realistic, as was the hockey dialog. Starvation Lake was well written and entertaining. My only complaint is that there were too many characters to keep track of and the numerous back stories were a distraction. ( )

A well paced mystery with a good storyline. Would benefit from more character development. It is the first in a series so perhaps the characters will be developed in subsequent books. ( )

WOW! What a debut work. Gruley has absolutely captured a small Michigan town, and it's inhabitants. If you are not a fan of hockey (as I am not), you'll learn a lot about it. But the best thing about Starvation Lake is Gruley's absolutely spot on inhabitants of this book. And I use "inhabitants" rather than "characters", because they come alive. I personally hate a book with 2 dimensional characterizations. I can't wait until Gruley comes out with the next Starvation Lake story. I'd be willing to bet that it won't be a direct to paperback, but a real hard-cover for Gruley next time. I wonder what Gus, Darlene, Dingus and Soupy will be up to then. ( )