Northern Lights / Nora Roberts / 562 pages / 5 Gold Rings December Challenge

Ignatius "Nate" Burke accepts a job as Chief of Police in Lunacy, Alaska.  He is a former Baltimore police officer who quit the force after he and his partner were gunned down in an alley.  His partner, a married man with kids, did not survive.  Nate still has great difficulty coping with the guilt and loss.  Nate impresses the locals with his ability to police and is drawn into the investigation of several murders - one of them fifteen years old.  Since this is Nora Roberts, we have multiple romances, an engaging mystery, and a clever plot twist.  Bet you can't guess who done it....