Murder on the Iditarod Trail (Jessie Arnold Series #1) Book

I really, really wanted to like this book. I have read other books in the series but had to wait for this to come out in Kindle form just yesterday. I just finished it and am sitting here scratching my head. I know that others loved this book, and I wonder if they read it when it first came out and it may have been more germane at the time? I did learn a LOT - somewhat more than I wanted to know about the Iditarod Race.

Unfortunately, this left little time to really search for clues as to who had been the murderer and why. this book left State trooper Alex Jensen, looking like a very weak character and Jessie Arnold, Alaska's premier female musher, seemed to not have even been needed in this book.

My biggest complaint -and I admit this may all be my fault- is that the author introduces so many characters in this book, uses the first name's sometimes and last names other times, that I couldn't keep them straight.

I ended up not wanting to finish simply because I lost all interest in the murders...the murderer was fairly easy to figure out and the conclusion, while exciting for a brief moment, was all in all unsatisfactory.