Like the Kate Shugak series by , this is set in the far North. In this case, the Northwest Territories of Canada; somewhat earlier than the Stabenows; and written in the first person, in the voice of a Native in the RCMP. I like the voice; he burbles on in his head while presenting a dry, -like tough guy image.
The mystery is OK too, with a suitably adventurous ending.
ISBN: 0-14-012336-9
So wrote clew in Mystery. | TrackBackThere's a lot more "talking into the camera" anthropolgy in this one than the Stabenow books. Part of that sounded like a Canadian trying to explain Canadian concepts like Metis to the US market.
It's a few years earlier than the first Kate Shugak book, isn't it? so might have needed to do that bit more explaining.
I agree it's info-dump, but I think dressing the info-dump as everything the taciturn guy thinks but doesn't say is tidy.