Winter
of Secrets
A
Molly Smith Mystery
Vicki
Delany
Poisoned
Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-676-X (159058676X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-676-1 (9781590586761)
Publication Date: November 2009
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): It’s Christmas Eve and the snowstorm of the decade has settled over the peaceful mountain town of Trafalgar, B.C. Constables Smith and Evans have a busy shift, attending fender-benders, tumbling pedestrians, and Christmas tree fires. At the stroke of midnight, they arrive at the scene of a car accident: a vehicle has gone off the snowy road into the icy river. An accident, agree police, coroner, medics. But when the autopsy reveals a shocking secret, Constable Molly Smith and Sergeant John Winters are plunged into the world of sexual predators, recreational drugs, privilege, and high-living.
Review:
Sergeant John Winters and Constable Molly Smith are simply trying to
keep order in their small town when a blizzard hits and tragedy strikes
in Winter
of Secrets, the third mystery
in this series by Vicki Delany.
It is the Christmas holiday season in this small picturesque, peaceful
mountain village. University students have come for two weeks of fun,
skiing, drinking, and carousing. Jason Wyatt-Yarmouth and five of his
college friends, plus his younger high school sister, Mary, are among
those visiting from Ontario, having rented rooms at the Glacier Chalet,
Mrs. Carmine’s cozy bed-and-breakfast. Although there is
always snow in December, drawing the skiing crowds, this Christmas Eve
there a blizzard descends upon the town. There are stalled cars, fender
benders, and traffic snarls all associated with stormy white-outs. But
it soon gets worse when a car misses a turn and skids into the icy
waters of the local river. Jason and his best friend Ewan are found in
the car, dead. They had been inseparable friends since they were
children. Now they're both dead, killed by tragedy on Christmas Eve.
The police and medics on the scene all agree this was a terrible
accident. When the coroner arrives to examine the bodies, however, he
finds that Ewan died twenty hours or more before the accident, the
result of a blow to the head. This came as a shock not only to the
other students who claim to know nothing about it, but to John and
Molly as well. What had happened to Ewan? Why was Jason driving around
with a corpse in his car? Molly and John are thrust into an
investigation where privileged kids indulging in recreational drugs and
sexual promiscuity are of the norm. Their holiday plans have to be put
on hold while they sort out who did what and why.
Winter
of Secrets paints a grim,
often disturbing picture of a cross-section of today's youth, their
disregard for other's feelings, seemingly perverse satisfaction in
seeing a disliked person being hurt. There are also the attitudes of
the distant rich, including the Wyatt-Yarmouth family, towards the
local poor. The contrast of these characters with the warmth and good
spirit typically associated with Christmas is jarring. The mystery
surrounding the death of Ewan, however, will keep the reader's
attention to the very end as Molly, with some help from her mother
Lucky, unravels the twisted threads of this case.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Winter of Secrets and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Winter of Secrets? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
In the Shadow of the Glacier
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), October 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59058-448-1 (1590584481)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-448-4 (9781590584484)
Valley of the Lost
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), February 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59058-595-X (159058595X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-595-5 (9781590585955)
Winter of Secrets
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), November 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59058-676-X (159058676X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-676-1 (9781590586761)
Omnimystery
keywords for Winter of Secrets
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Location(s) referenced: Trafalgar, British Columbia.
