Frozen Detective by Amanda Flower Narrator: Laura Faye Smith
Series: Piper and Porter Mystery #2
on December 6, 2022
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Mystery
Length: 6 hrs 38 mins
Pages: 336
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
Add on Goodreads
Murder on the ski slopes.
The weapon? A bow and arrow.
The suspects? Every guest at the villa.Intrigue, a fake relationship, and humor come together in a Knives Out-style cozy mystery from bestselling author Amanda Flower and Hallmark Publishing.
A wealthy doctor invites many of his associates to spend a week at a giant, luxurious ski villa. Darby Piper, a seasoned private eye, and Tate Porter, her new partner at the detective agency, are among the guests, going undercover as a romantic couple. They were hired by the doctor’s much-younger wife to investigate anonymous threats against her husband’s life. But before long, Darby and Tate are investigating a murder instead.
As they dig up buried grudges, Darby’s jealous ex-boyfriend on the police force thinks they’re wasting their time. Will Darby and Tate figure out who the killer is…or will it become another cold case?
Frozen Detective is a fun, wintery mystery that takes place at New Year’s. Darby and Tate take on a case for Tate’s old friend, Cecily (CeCe) Madd. Cecily’s husband has been receiving threatening notes and she’s worried his life is in danger, but of course, she wants to avoid the publicity that calling in the police might bring. Darby and Tate go undercover to a New Year’s party Cecily and Dr. Madd are holding at the nearby ski resort. And, of course, first thing on New Year’s Day, Dr. Madd is killed, shot with a crossbow on the ski slope. The Police close the lodge and ordered the guests to remain. Darby and Tate must find the killer before the weekend ends and the guests leave.
I enjoyed Darby and Tate. Darby is an experienced PI, but Tate is pretty new to the agency and it was good to see how they have to learn to trust each other and recognize each other’s strengths. They seem to get along well, with maybe even a hint of sparks between them. The secondary characters are a quirky bunch with big personalities. There are several potential suspects – turns out Dr. Madd was not a nice man.
The plot moved along at a good pace. The setting was marvelous, someplace I’d love to visit, even if I don’t ski. It was a little easy to guess the whodunnit though.
I listened to the audio which was the right choice. The narrator does a nice job with tone and differentiating the different characters.
I’m looking forward to the third in the series, which we got a little to at the end of this one, I hope. In the meantime, I may have to go back and read the first.
About Amanda Flower
Amanda Flower is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over thirty-five mystery novels. Her novels have received starred reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Romantic Times, and she had been featured in USA Today, First for Women, and Woman’s World. She currently writes for Penguin-Random House (Berkley), Kensington, Hallmark Publishing, Crooked Lane Books, and Sourcebooks. In addition to being a writer, she was a librarian for fifteen years. Today, Flower and her husband own a farm and recording studio, and they live in Northeast Ohio with their two adorable cats.
Shot with a crossbow on a ski slope…what a way to die! This mystery sounds like a lot of fun to read.
It was fun. I’m not sure if Darby and Tate make the best decisions on which cases to take, though, if this is any example.