As Skookum Summer begins, the year is 1981, and reporter Tom Dawson slinks back to his tiny Puget Sound hometown after making a disastrous mistake at the LA Times. Working reluctantly at the local weekly, the Big Skookum Echo, Tom is drawn into investigating a powerful logger's murder.

As the mystery deepens, the murder exposes the strains on the community as pollution, development, and global change threaten traditional Northwest livelihoods. It also forces Tom to confront his own past and discover what home really means to him. Hart weaves together a gripping and suspenseful plot with richly observed Pacific Northwest history and a vivid picture of a community on the brink of change.

"Skookum Summer is a suspenseful and satisfying whodunit, but it is, simultaneously, the fully realized coming-of-age tale of a young man taking stock of himself for the first time. . . . One part murder mystery, one part journey of self-discovery, one part novel of ideas - Skookum Summer accomplishes an astonishing amount in just 300 pages. Jack Hart's substantial book entertains as it provokes thought and shines with the skookum of its subject."

Jack Hart is a former managing editor at the Oregonian, writing coach, and author of Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction.