A year ago, I said I loved Paige Shelton’s first mystery set in Alaska featuring Beth Rivers, Thin Ice. I still love the remote setting for this series, Benedict, Alaska. The cast of characters is wonderful. But, Beth Rivers herself drove me nuts in this book. If you had been kidnapped, and held prisoner for three days before escaping, would you wander into empty houses in the woods without telling anyone where you were? I get it that amateur sleuths need to take chances and make discoveries, or there wouldn’t be a mystery. But, Beth goes a little too far in this book, in my opinion.
Five months earlier, Beth fled St. Louis to hide out, hoping her kidnapper would be found. He hasn’t yet, although a police detective in St. Louis is still looking, and Beth’s crazy mother, Mill, is looking for the kidnapper as well as Beth’s father, who disappeared when Beth was a child. Beth is hiding out, running the local newspaper, and living in Benedict House, a halfway house for female felons. She accidentally booked it when she was trying to find a place to live.
Beth is working at the newspaper office one day when two girls, about 8 or 9, show up at the door. They’re muddy, and they can’t speak. She takes them back to Benedict House, and they’re cleaned up before she notifies Gril, the police chief. But, he has another situation on his hands as well. It seems a recent mudslide has shaken up the world around Benedict. Not only did two unidentified muddy girls show up, but a woman’s frozen corpse has been found.
Beth is convinced the history of the town, a fire, missing women, the two children, and a couple bodies are all connected somehow, and the mudslide shook everything loose. It also shook loose some of her memories of her kidnapping, especially after Mill puts a name to the man. Now, after she hits her head, Beth sees the man’s face when she runs into strange men she doesn’t know.
How long can the mystery of Beth’s kidnapper continue in the series? Not long, if she continues to take stupid steps by walking into buildings she presumes are empty. Maybe one man isn’t home, but when a shed falls on her, she knows she shouldn’t have been there in the first place. I’ll read the third in this series. I’ve loved Paige Shelton’s books and her writing for quite a while. But, Beth needs to heed the advice of the people who live there. She needs to stop following some wild hair idea, stop wandering off without telling anyone where she’s going. She might have survived Cold Wind, but that doesn’t mean readers will like her actions. I know I thought it was one more example of an amateur sleuth being Too Stupid to Live at times.
Paige Shelton’s website is http://paigeshelton.com
Cold Wind by Paige Shelton. Minotaur Books, 2020. ISBN 9781250295316 (hardcover), 291p.
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.
Had I but known…
I hate when women (it’s usually women) do that.
😉
I do, too, Jeff. I loved my sister’s comment. She said it’s like that commercial. If you’re in a horror movie, you make bad decisions. And, you’re right. It’s usually women.
I really like this series, the settings, the characters. Darn. I just found Beth frustrating in this book.
Liked the first one very much, have this one on hold and will withhold judgment.
You’ll have to come back and tell us, Jeannette, after you have a chance to read it.
I saw this book on another bloggers best books of the year but most of her top picks were DNFs for me. I haven’t read the first book yet so this isn’t on my list yet.
Darn you, Sandy. Now, I’m curious. But, I don’t want you to tell us the blogger’s name or site. I am curious about the top picks that were DNFs. But, that’s okay. And, I like this series. I will read the next book, and see what happens.