In the Dead of Winter

Blue Water Mysteries, #1

by

Lyn Farrell

Who could possibly want the young mother of a three-year-old dead?

In the Dead of Winter is the first novel in author Lyn Farrell’s new Michigan-set series, the Blue Water Mysteries, and pairs the investigative talents of a sharp-witted civilian sheriff’s dispatcher with the untested but earnest undersheriff, investigating his first homicide. Victoria Treadwell was making her way to work over treacherous snow-covered rural roads when she saw a car come up behind her, fishtail, and slide off the road and stop headfirst against a tree. When she turned back to see if the driver needed help, she discovered a young woman, barely breathing and crumpled over the steering wheel, as her toddler daughter witnessed everything from her car seat in the back. As the young woman succumbs, it becomes apparent that her death was not the result of the accident but of the premeditated actions of a murderer. 

Victoria, the married mother of two, is a talented amateur sleuth, hampered by her status as an untrained civilian. She’s quick to see connections in the clues, and her online research skills really help further the investigation. She takes a personal interest in the case and hopes she and her part First Nations husband can adopt the dead woman’s tiny daughter, a First Nations child, out from under the girl’s own father and grandmother, neither of whom may be in the best situation to care for the toddler. 

Undersheriff Pete Manstead, while a dedicated officer, is the tortoise to Victoria’s hare in their race to bring in the killer before the sheriff, who is out of town at a conference, returns to take over the investigation. A self-acknowledged plodder, Pete thinks and rethinks his every move. Still, he tends to leap to some pretty tenuous conclusions as he works to identify the killer. Together, the result is quite a unique police procedural with several potential suspects, all of whom look good for the murder until their alibis prove they’re not the one. Slowly but surely, the two tease out the truth of Carly Yellowstone’s sad death. 

I recommend IN THE DEAD OF WINTER to readers of mysteries, especially those who enjoy a story set in blizzard-like conditions or Michigan’s rural north. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.