What's not to like? Wrangell, Alaska, rich in scenery, laden with native lore. A child who's not cute but sturdily self reliant. No victim, although needing shelter, James has been prepared by his grandfather for the weight of tribal responsibility. He knows where all the Tlingit bodies are buried. A great, half breed dog who neither talks nor detects. Sam's just a dog. A woman who's wounded but walking, struggling to make sense of her life. She's stubborn and somewhat rash, but you can forgive her as you warm to her prickly personality and watch her pilot her freighter/floating library. And a cop who's no SNAG (that's Sensitive New Age Guy) but working on his attitude. Toss in some Tlingit totems and you get a winning and colorful debut mystery which also has a winning concept: hardcover publication by us (April 30), mass market publication by its originating publisher, Berkley Prime Crime (May 8, $5.99). Crow in Stolen Colors ($24.95) is reviewed in the April issue of Firsts, The Magazine for Book Collectors. While fairly citing some flaws, Kathryn Smiley sums up: "Liza has lived several lives: daughter of a native American mother who left Liza and her Anglo father; wife of a policeman shot to death by a crazed druggie; skipper of a coastal freighter. Now Liza unwillingly takes on another incarnation, as protector of a seven-year-old Tlingit boy who himself is the guardian of a very big secret.... This is an entertaining debut with a vivid setting and a brisk pace. Simpson is obviously at home in a boat on the tricky waters of the Alaskan coast; after a session with Crow in Stolen Colors, you feel a need to wash the salt spray off your face.... it] provides readers a passage alongwaterways few of us have visited and a thoughtful look at the true value of cultural heritage."