Reading the North

By Kathy Doogan (Alaska Cook Book Co., $13.95)

The blurb: From old favorites such as classic salmon loaf and Kedgeree to innovative new ideas like smoked salmon cupcakes and butternut squash soup with salmon croutons. Also included are a sampling of recipes from chefs at some of Alaska's best restaurants.

Excerpt: "Smoked Salmon Spread

1 large package cream cheese (8 ounces) softened

3 tablespoons half-and-half or cream

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons chives or fresh dill, finely minced

1 cup finely chopped smoked salmon (about 5 or 6 ounces), skin and bones removed before chopping

Whisk the cream cheese, half-and-half, lemon juice and chives or dill until smooth. Fold in the salmon. Spoon into a serving bowl and chill at least an hour. Serve with crackers."

Gold Fever: A Klondike Mystery

By Vicki Delany (RendezVous Crime, $18.95)

The blurb: It's the summer of 1898, and Fiona MacGillivray and the Savoy Dance Hall are busier than ever. Tens of thousands of people from all corners of the globe are flooding into the Yukon Territory in the pursuit of gold.

When a dancer is found dead after a public altercation with Fiona, Fiona's arch-enemy, the madam with a heart of coal, sets out to destroy the Savoy once and for all.

The Mounties, in the person of handsome Constable Richard Sterling, are determined to get their man -- or woman.

Excerpt: "Here we are Angus dear. Let us go in." She marched into the Savoy with firm steps, looking neither left nor right. All conversation stopped as everyone watched them make their way across the room. Miss Witherspoon walked up to the bar as the crowd parted politely. She hesitated only for a moment when she caught sight of the two nudes that hung on either side of a portrait of Her Imperial Majesty. Her steely gaze fixed resolutely on her equally steely Queen, Miss Witherspoon called for a whisky. If her voice broke, perhaps only Angus, pressed up against her bustle-bound rear end, heard it."

-- Compiled by Gretchen Weiss, Anchorage Daily News