A COLD, COLD WORLD
by Elena Taylor
A small-town Washington sheriff fights the elements while seeking a killer and several missing persons.
Bet Rivers, the latest in a long line of sheriffs named Rivers in Collier, left LAPD after her father died to take over his job. Now she faces her first big challenge in an unusually heavy snowstorm that may close down the town. With only her dog, Schweitzer, one deputy, and a septuagenarian secretary for help, she heads out to investigate a snowmobile accident first discovered by a visiting couple and their son. Arriving on the scene, Bet finds local teen Grant Marsden dead under suspicious circumstances. Next, George Stand, the caretaker of the Collier estate, shows up to report a break-in, a sleeping bag covered in blood, and a missing shower curtain. Soon afterward, someone breaks into the local ambulance and steals supplies, making Bet wonder if there’s a connection to that bloody sleeping bag. At the Marsden house, Bet finds 21-year-old Bodhi Marsden partying and claiming that Grant was staying with a friend while their father and younger sister are out of town. When her deputy leaves to be with his wife, who’s gone into labor, the shorthanded Bet takes a chance by deputizing George’s great-nephew Kane, a former military police officer who’s having a hard time adjusting to civilian life. Her heavy caseload forces Bet to put her life on the line in arduous conditions.
An exciting combination of multiple mysteries and a thrilling fight to survive nature’s wrath.