Cold Wind: A Mystery (Alaska Wild Series) by Paige Shelton #Review@MinotaurBooks

This book will be released on December 8, 2020.

Cold Wind: A Mystery (Alaska Wild Series)
Suspense/Mystery – Some Explicit Language
2nd in Series
Setting – Alaska
Publisher: Minotaur Books (December 8, 2020)
Hardcover: 304 pages
ISBN-10: 1250295319
ISBN-13: 978-1250295316
Kindle ASIN: B084M26ST6

Beth Rivers is still in Alaska. The unidentified man who kidnapped her in her home of St. Louis hasn’t been found yet, so she’s not ready to go back.

 

But as October comes to a close, Benedict is feeling more and more like her new home. Beth has been working on herself: She’s managed to get back to writing, and she’s enjoying these beautiful months between summer and winter in Alaska.

 

Then, everything in Benedict changes after a mudslide exposes a world that had been hidden for years. Two mud-covered, silent girls appear, and a secret trapper’s house is found in the woods. The biggest surprise, though, is a dead and frozen woman’s body in the trapper’s shed. No one knows who she is, but the man who runs the mercantile, Randy, seems to be in the middle of all the mysteries.

 

Unable to escape her journalistic roots, Beth is determined to answer the questions that keep arising: Are the mysterious girls and the frozen body connected? Can Randy possibly be involved? And―most importantly―can she solve this mystery before the cold wind sweeping over the town and the townspeople descends for good?

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Beth Rivers is still hiding out in Alaska because the man who kidnapped her has yet to be apprehended. She is getting more comfortable in her surroundings and is writing again.

There was a recent mudslide that has shaken the town up a bit. Two young girls are found. They can hear but they don’t talk. Their mud-covered state leads everyone to believe they have been out in the elements awhile. The mudslide also opened up a path to reveal a house in the woods and a shack with a dead body. The woman is frozen stiff and while it is chilly in Alaska it is not cold enough to freeze a body solid and keep it frozen.

Is there a connection between the woman and the girls? or just crazy incidents happening at the same time? Beth is very drawn to the girls and needs answers, so she inserts herself into another investigation that could make living in the lower 48 staying a step ahead of a kidnapper safer than the wild winds blowing through Benedict Alaska.

I was thrilled to receive an early copy of the first book in this series, Thin Ice, and have been waiting somewhat impatiently for this book but let me tell you it was worth the wait.

Just like Thin Ice, Cold Wind grabbed me right away and the book was impossible to put down. Many authors have a descriptive writing style but Ms. Shelton’s is unique in that she takes us on the scene like we are watching a movie. She is able to paint pictures with her words without getting overly wordy. The scenes came alive in my mind in living color and the story just flowed. There are several suspenseful scenes intermixed with some milder ones but the pages seemed to fly at breakneck speed. I had to know what was going to happen next.

I was very impressed with the way Beth is evolving as she remembers more about the trauma she survived that had her landing in Alaska. She really is a strong woman because life in Alaska isn’t easy especially after all she has been through. She is surrounded by a very interesting group of supporting characters. We met several more in this story. Some who escaped to Alaska for their own reasons.

Cold Wind actually gave me shivers and chills. Beth Rivers is a powerful character and I am so enthusiastic about this series and to see her story continue.

To really appreciate this story you should read Thin Ice first to understand Beth’s journey, plus it is an awesome story too! Look for Cold Wind on my Best Reads of 2020 list.

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

Read my review of Thin Ice here.

About The Author

PAIGE SHELTON had a nomadic childhood as her father’s job as a football coach took the family to seven different towns before she was even twelve years old. After college at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, she moved to Salt Lake City where she thought she’d only stay a few years, but she fell in love with the mountains and a great guy who became her husband. After a couple of decades in Utah, she and her family recently moved to Arizona. She also writes the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series.

Paige Shelton is also the New York Times Bestselling author of the Farmers’ Market Mysteries and the Country Cooking School Mysteries. She’s lived in lots of places but currently resides in Arizona. Find out more at www.paigeshelton.com

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”