Nathan Active Mysteries

The Nathan Active Mysteries is a series of novels by Stan Jones, an American author of science fiction and mystery books. The first and most popular novel of the series is the aptly named, White Sky Black Ice published in 1999. Not the most prolific of writers, Jones has gone on to write four more titles in the series by 2016. The mystery series is set in an Alaskan Inuit community, which happens to have an inordinate number of murder mysteries. Jones paints an Alaska culture in the throes of change as embodied by Nathan Active a state trooper and detective. Over the series, the protagonist is involved in trying to unrvel a series of murders in his town of Chukchi. His job is made even harder by the fact that he has practically no knowledge of the indigenous culture of the Inuit, though he is a born Inuit. Stan Jones has written an excellent novel that portrays the clash of cultures between the indigenous people and the white settlers of Alaska. Unlike other novels that try to analyze the clash from the perspective of say a white man working in and indigenous community, Jones takes an innovative approach in presenting the story from the perspective of a native. The unique nature of the protagonist in being pure Inuit yet never having full acceptance into the community because of his lack of knowledge of the culture makes for some interesting perspectives.