Dead of Winter, P.J. Parrish, Pinnacle, $6.99.

Dead of Winter by P.J. Parrish

This is one terrific book. If PJ Parrish hadn't requested a signing at our store, it may have taken me much longer to pick it up, and that would have been a shame, because she delivers the whole package - lovely writing, tight plotting, suspense, and a terrific central character, Detective Louis Kincaid, who has come to tiny Loon Lake, Michigan because of a shortage of jobs in the Detroit police department. When he drives into town for the first time, he thinks he's gone back in time to Bedford Falls (from It's a Wonderful Life), but he quickly discovers this is not the case, as his fellow police officers begin to be picked off, one by one, by a very determined and deadly sniper.

Two strengths of this novel (among many others) are the portraits of Louis Kincaid and that of his chief, Brian Gibralter. Louis is a character so deep and mysterious, so well fleshed out, that I can see Parrish getting many novels out of him, while at the same time the reader won't weary of the half African-American, foster parent raised, honorable, intelligent police officer at the start of his career. Gibralter, at the end of his career, is just as mysterious and complicated as he peppers Louis with confusing quotes and questions, and requires total honesty and loyalty while not always being as consistent in his own behavior. There are several other sidebar characters as compellingly drawn as these two.

Parrish also has the feel of a dark, cold, snowy and long Michigan winter down pat - Louis is a bit farther north than we are here in Ann Arbor, but just reading passages in this book should make you shiver. The mark of a really good writer, of course, is a snappy plot to draw all these strong elements together - Parrish delivers here too. Give one of these a try - you won't be sorry.

bullet hole

To browse more reviews, use the navigation links at the top of the page.

Michigan Mysteries

Dead of Winter, P.J. Parrish, Pinnacle, $6.99.