Image credit: © D. MacNeill Parker
Local author with commercial fishing and journalism background debuts a satisfying murder mystery for both beach and wheelhouse reading.
I met author D. MacNeill Parker at the annual Fishermen’s Fall Festival back in September, 2025. She looked at me with a big smile from her exhibitor table and lured me in with a “Hey you! Do you like a good mystery?” How could I resist? After a few minutes of friendly chatter, I walked away with my brand new, signed copy of her debut murder mystery novel Death in Dutch Harbor (The Wild Rose Press, Inc, 2023). Dedicated to the “fishermen and women” among others who bring us Alaskan seafood—including “a plethora of plankton that keeps it all spinning”—Death in Dutch Harbor is a wheelhouse or beach worthy read that I devoured eagerly. Think Agatha Christie Death on the Nile “whodunit” murder, starring troubled spitfire veterinarian with a past Dr. Maureen McMurtry instead of detective Poirot, with an authentic, lived-in Deadliest Catch setting versus Egypt, and you have a winning combination on your hands.
A body in a crab pot. Loyal three-legged retired police dog companion. A shotgun-wielding “witch” a skiff ride away who might’ve seen something. Sketchy Russians and a showdown in Alaska’s most dangerous bar. Without spoiling too much, Dr. McMurtry begins the story investigating the mysterious killing of bullet-ridden sea lions that wash up on shore and then she’s swept into assisting the over-his-head police chief as the town’s unofficial de facto corner. Layers of complexity, various motives, and suspects escalate the tension as multiple bodies pile up. Even people close to her—such as her barfly companions and on-again, off-again hunky fisherman boyfriend—become entangled in the open case. Who can she trust? Is she next? Maybe she should take that swankier gig in Anchorage, get out of Dutch once and for all? But something about the small town at the end of the world just doesn’t let her go, even as demons from her past in Boston reemerge to haunt her.
For me, a major strength of this book is its authenticity. You can tell you’re in the hands of a real-deal fisherwoman who knows Dutch Harbor firsthand. Environmentalists and fishermen passionately debate over sea lion issues just like they do in real life. Landmarks like Mount Ballyhoo and the realistic depictions of vessel gear and interiors just can’t be counterfeited. The characters are all rough around the edges and generally just trying to keep their own little worlds spinning, moralities or airs be damned. Dr. McMurtry is a compelling protagonist that I was rooting for, even if she probably should’ve died about ten times in her solo sleuthing adventures.
At its core, what makes a murder-mystery novel good is whether the reader eagerly turns the page, thirsty for the case to finally be solved in a satisfying way after a great deal of adventure. Death in Dutch Harbor had this effect on me and earns a hearty recommendation, especially for those plying over Alaska either for recreation or a paycheck.
