CANR
WORK TITLE: WINTER’S END
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.paigeshelton.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: CA 414
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; husband’s name Charlie; children: a son.
EDUCATION:Attended Drake University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Previously worked in advertising.
WRITINGS
Contributor to books, including The Cozy Cookbook: More than 100 Recipes from Today’s Bestselling Mystery Authors, Berkley Prime Crime (New York, NY), 2015.
SIDELIGHTS
Paige Shelton is an author of cozy mystery novels. She attended Drake University after a nomadic childhood due to her father’s career as a football coach. Shelton eventually moved to Salt Lake City and began working in advertising. There she began writing novels and continued this after her move to Arizona. She is the author of numerous mystery series, including “Farmer’s Market Mystery,” “Country Cooking School Mystery,” “Scottish Bookshop Mystery,” and “Alaska Wild Mysteries.”
“Farmers’ Market Mystery” series
Shelton’s first novel is Farm Fresh Murder. It is the first installment in her “Farmers’ Market Mystery” series, which stars Becca Robins, a divorcée and jam maker who sells her wares at Bailey’s Farmers’ Market in Monson, South Carolina.
Fruit of All Evil, the second book in the series, finds Becca helping to plan a wedding to be held at the farmers’ market. When the mother of the groom-to-be is found dead, Becca attempts to find out who her killer is. A writer on the Debbie’s Book Bag website commented: “If you like a good cozy mystery, there are lots of reasons to choose this one. Paige Shelton does an excellent job with the second book in the ‘Farmers’ Market’ series. Fruit of All Evil has it all. Great plot line, quirky and interesting characters, humor and even a touch of romance.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer described the volume as “entertaining” and noted that it featured a “less than surprising but still satisfying conclusion.”
In Bushel Full of Murder, Becca and her fellow farmers’ market vendors clash with the new food truck operators at Bailey’s. When the business manager of Monson turns up dead, it is suspected that the killer is someone involved with the market. Becca’s cousin, Peyton, who runs a hot dog truck, becomes the lead suspect, and Becca determines to prove his innocence. “Paige Shelton has topped herself this time,” asserted a reviewer on the Escape with Dollycas website. The same reviewer continued: “With … Bushel Full of Murder, she has given us a fabulous mystery with many twists and turns. … The plotting is top notch. This is a perfect summer read.” Mary Brown, a contributor to the Open Book Society website, suggested: “ Bushel Full of Murder is a well written, action packed, thrilling mystery. The characters are fun, diverse and well developed.” Brown added: “Reading Bushel Full of Murder is like coming home, while it is still as fresh as a just picked tomato. This installment of the superb series is as great as all the others and even better.”
“Country Cooking School Mystery” series
Shelton’s “Country Cooking School Mystery” series features books, including If Catfish Had Nine Lives. Gram and her granddaughter, Betts, run a cooking school in Broken Rope, Missouri. They try to solve the murder of an actor in a local cowboy show. A writer on the Smitten by Books website commented: “If Catfish Had Nine Lives is an enjoyable read overall; the concept is unique, the plot is intriguing, and the characters are entertaining and relatively full-fleshed. If you’re hankering for a fair-play mystery, though, you may want to steer clear.” A critic on the Open Books Society website suggested: “This is a fun cozy mystery series, and the cowboy-ish setting and ghostly aspects keep the plots fresh.” The same critic described the book as “recommended for fans of the series, lovers of food cozies, and those who enjoy a little ghost activity in their cozy mysteries.”
Betts and Gram use their ability to communicate with ghosts to help them solve the murder of Derek Rowlett. Debbie Wiley, a reviewer on the Fresh Fiction website, asserted: “If Onions Could Spring Leeks is a fascinating cozy mystery with two mysteries unfolding—one in the present day and one in Broken Rope’s past.” Wiley added: “If Onions Could Spring Leeks is easily recommended.” A contributor to the Night Owl Suspense website remarked: “A more complex and descriptive novel would be hard to find, let alone set aside for chores or sleep. Compelling characters and unique situations keep the reader’s interest, and Ms. Shelton does a good job inserting historical pieces into the storyline.”
“Scottish Bookshop Mystery” series
The Cracked Spine is the first volume in Shelton’s “Scottish Bookshop Mystery” series. In an interview with a contributor to the Poisoned Pen website, Shelton described the series’s main character: “Delaney is a late-twenties, intelligent, well-educated woman who found herself in a situation she never could have predicted: laid-off from the Wichita, Kansas, museum job she loved. She was really good at it too. It’s as she’s in this state of ‘stun,’ the first time the real world has reared some of its unfairness her direction, that she answers an ad to work in a bookshop in Edinburgh, Scotland.” Shelton continued: “Probably all the ramifications haven’t quite set in when she actually accepts the position during a phone call with her new boss, Edwin MacAlister. She had never been out of Kansas before, and she wanted to be bold. She decides that taking a job across the ocean is a good way to begin that bold journey.” Regarding the setting, Shelton to the same contributed: “When my husband, son, and I actually went to Scotland our first stop was Grassmarket, and I knew without a doubt that the Cracked Spine had to be located in this historical area near the Royal Mile and the Edinburgh Castle.” “Prolific Shelton … kicks off a new series featuring a sleuth who’ll delight book lovers, a so-so mystery, and Edinburgh in the starring role,” remarked a critic on the Kirkus Reviews website. A Publishers Weekly writer commented: “This spotlessly clean, fun-filled read takes plenty of twists and turns.”
Delaney is sent on a book-buying mission to Castle Doune in Of Books and Bagpipes. Her overprotective landlord comes along. There, they discover the person they were supposed to meet dead. He is dressed as William Wallace. The man’s father, an estranged friend of Edwin’s, has been presumed dead but drops his assumed identity in order to help find out who is responsible for his son’s murder. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly described the book as “enjoyable.” “This sequel to The Cracked Spine … is rich in Scottish dialect and eccentric characters, including a well-meaning heroine who brings on most of her own troubles,” asserted a Kirkus Reviews writer. Sue O’Brien, contributor to Booklist, noted: “Delaney is a bright, sympathetic figure surrounded by well-drawn secondary characters.”
(open new)Lost Books and Old Bones is the third novel in the series. Delaney has settled into life in Edinburgh and her job at the Cracked Spine bookstore. When a medical student friend of hers is found dead in an alley with a skull placed next to the body, Delaney wonders if there is a connection with the bookstore, which was once owned by a doctor who infamously bought corpses for dissection from a pair of murderers in the 19th century. A contributor to Publishers Weekly remarked that “Shelton’s lovely depictions of Edinburgh, its denizens, and its bookshops will enchant lovers of cozies.”
In The Loch Ness Papers, Delaney is preparing for her marriage to pub owner Tom Shannon. She picks up a pack of Loch Ness Monster cards after bumping into monster hunter Norval Fraser. Norval asks Delaney to continue the search for his father, who he suspects was taken by the Loch Ness Monster. When Norval and Delaney find his great-nephew stabbed to death in his apartment and her wedding dress goes missing just days before the ceremony, Delaney realizes she has took much going on in life. A Kirkus Reviews contributor lamented that “the material on the eternally enigmatic Loch Ness Monster is a good deal more absorbing than the subpar mystery.”
Delaney has returned from her honeymoon in The Stolen Letter. At the bookstore, she meets Mary Stewart, an older doppelganger who believes she is the reincarnation of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Delaney goes to the woman’s house for dinner and learns that her city-councilman husband was killed by a car bomb the next day, pushing her into an investigation of matters. A Kirkus Reviews contributor stated: “As usual, the interesting historical tidbits, local color, and charming characters far outweigh the mundane mystery.”
With Deadly Editions, Delaney is considered a possible candidate to inherit the large collection of books left by Shelagh O’Conner. Shelagh organizes a treasure hunt to prove who would be most worthy. When she is kidnapped and a copycat Mr. Hyde appears, Delaney looks into the mystery to save Shelagh. A Kirkus Reviews contributor commented that “the amusing treasure hunt is filled with literary references that will tickle bibliophiles.”
In The Burning Pages, Delaney and coworker Hamlet are invited to the Robert Burns cottage to help their boss, Edwin, smooth out an old grudge with a former associate. When the cottage is burned down and Hamlet is accused of murder, Delaney steps up to get to the bottom of this long-held grudge. A contributor to Books for the Beach summarized that “The Burning Pages is not the strongest installation in the ‘Scottish Bookshop Mysteries,’ but it does add much needed background to one of the best characters. It is always a pleasure going back to scenes of beautiful Scotland and books galore, and will always be a favorite series of mine.”
“Alaska Wild Mysteries” series
Thin Ice marked the start of the “Alaska Wild Mysteries” series, which features thriller author Beth Rivers. Beth left her home in St. Louis to move to Benedict, Alaska, to create some distance between her and the unidentified man who kidnapped her. She stays at a halfway house while getting situated and is offered to run the village newspaper. She agrees and starts by writing an article about the mysterious death of a local woman. This places her in the center of the murder investigation, and she starts her own initiative after coming up against a roadblock. A contributor to Publishers Weekly opined that “too many unresolved subplots overshadow the intriguing setup and distinctive setting.”
With Cold Wind, two mute girls show up at the halfway house where Beth lives. Arson and murder investigations fill up Beth’s time, while police in St. Louis believe they have identified her kidnapper, who is still roaming free. A contributor to Publishers Weekly suggested that “fans of light regional mysteries will be satisfied.”
In Dark Night, Beth’s mother, Mill, comes to town just as an abusive husband has been murdered and his sister is accused of theft. Mill is obsessing over the disappearance of her husband, leaving Beth with one more thing to worry about. Writing in Library Journal, Lesa Holstine insisted that “the isolated town of Benedict, with its eccentric characters, is the true star of this engrossing mystery.”
With Winter’s End, Beth learns about the town’s Death Walk, a physical walk around the area to look for residents who did not report to the police that they had survived the winter months. Kaye Miller’s body is found by the creek after being killed by a rock. Beth is saddened by her friend’s death and fully commits to finding the killer. A contributor to Publishers Weekly insisted that “the rugged Alaska landscape lends atmosphere.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor found it to be “an excellent adventure tale set against the stunning backdrop of Alaska.”(close new)
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 15, 2017, Sue O’Brien, review of Of Books and Bagpipes, p. 24; October 1, 2019, Henrietta Verma, review of Thin Ice, p. 31; March 1, 2020, Karen Muller, review of The Stolen Letter, p. 29; April 1, 2022, Sue O’Brien, review of The Burning Pages, p. 20.
Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2017, review of Of Books and Bagpipes; February 1, 2018, review of Lost Books and Old Bones; February 1, 2019, review of The Loch Ness Papers; October 1, 2019, review of Thin Ice; February 15, 2020, review of The Stolen Letter; October 1, 2020, review of Cold Wind; February 1, 2021, review of Deadly Editions; October 1, 2021, review of Dark Night; February 1, 2022, review of The Burning Pages; November 15, 2022, review of Winter’s End.
Library Journal, December 1, 2021, Lesa Holstine, review of Dark Night., p. 67.
Publishers Weekly, January 17, 2011, review of Fruit of All Evil, p. 34; February 1, 2016, review of The Cracked Spine. p. 50; February 13, 2017, review of Of Books and Bagpipes, p. 51; February 5, 2018, review of Lost Books and Old Bones, p. 45; September 18, 2019, review of Thin Ice; October 5, 2020, review of Cold Wind, p. 122; February 14, 2022, review of The Burning Pages, p. 43; October 24, 2022, review of Winter’s End, p. 59.
ONLINE
Always with a Book, https://www.alwayswithabook.com/ (December 15, 2020), review of Cold Wind; (January 2, 2022), review of Dark Night.
Ann Arbor News Online, http://www.annarbor.com/ (April 27, 2011), Lisa Allmendinger, review of Fruit of All Evil.
BookEnds Literary Agency website, http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/ (April 6, 2010), article by author.
BookPage, https://www.bookpage.com/ (December 3, 2019), G. Robert Frazier, review of Thin Ice.
Books for the Beach, https://samsbeachreads.com/ (May 8, 2022), review of The Burning Pages.
Crimereads, https://crimereads.com/ (January 27, 2023), author profile.
Debbie’s Book Bag, http://debsbookbag.blogspot.com/ (March 26, 2011), review of Fruit of All Evil.
Escape with Dollycas, http://www.escapewithdollycas.com/ (June 19, 2015), review of Bushel Full of Murder.
Fresh Fiction, http://freshfiction.com/ (August 21, 2015), Debbie Wiley, review of If Onions Could Spring Leeks.
Jungle Red Writers, http://www.jungleredwriters.com/ (April 11, 2017), author interview.
Kirkus Reviews Online, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/ (January 10, 2016), review of The Cracked Spine.
New York Journal of Books, https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/ (December 3, 2019), C.C. Harrison, review of Thin Ice.
Night Owl Suspense, https://suspense.nightowlreviews.com/ (September 1, 2015), review of If Onions could Spring Leeks.
Open Book Society, http://openbooksociety.com/ (August 11, 2014), review of If Catfish Had Nine Lives; (June 11, 2015), Mary Brown, review of Bushel Full of Murder.
Paige Shelton website, http://www.paigeshelton.com (January 27, 2023).
Poisoned Pen, https://poisonedpen.com/ (May 6, 2015), author interview.
Smitten by Books, http://smittenbybooks.com/ (September 27, 2014), review of If Catfish Had Nine Lives.
Paige Shelton
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Paige Shelton had a nomadic childhood as her father's job as a football coach took the family to seven different towns before she was even twelve years old. After college at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, she moved to Salt Lake City where she thought she'd only stay a couple years, but she fell in love with the mountains and a great guy who became her husband. After many decades in Utah, she and her family recently moved to Arizona.
Genres: Cozy Mystery
New Books
December 2022
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Winter's End
(Alaska Wild Mysteries, book 4)
Series
Farmer's Market Mystery
1. Farm Fresh Murder (2010)
2. Fruit of All Evil (2011)
3. Crops and Robbers (2011)
4. A Killer Maize (2012)
5. Merry Market Murder (2013)
6. Bushel Full of Murder (2015)
Red Hot Deadly Peppers (2012)
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Country Cooking School Mystery
1. If Fried Chicken Could Fly (2012)
2. If Mashed Potatoes Could Dance (2012)
3. If Bread Could Rise to the Occasion (2013)
4. If Catfish Had Nine Lives (2014)
5. If Onions Could Spring Leeks (2015)
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Dangerous Type Mystery
1. To Helvetica and Back (2016)
2. Bookman Dead Style (2017)
3. Comic Sans Murder (2017)
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Scottish Bookshop Mystery
1. The Cracked Spine (2016)
2. Of Books and Bagpipes (2017)
3. Lost Books and Old Bones (2018)
4. The Loch Ness Papers (2019)
5. The Stolen Letter (2020)
6. Deadly Editions (2021)
7. The Burning Pages (2022)
8. Fateful Words (2023)
A Christmas Tartan (2016)
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Alaska Wild Mysteries
1. Thin Ice (2019)
2. Cold Wind (2020)
3. Dark Night (2021)
4. Winter's End (2022)
5. Lost Hours (2023)
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Broken Rope
1. Like Seeing a Ghost (2021)
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Novels
Chewy Moon (2007)
Clockwork (2013)
Paige Shelton had a nomadic childhood as her father’s job as a football coach took the family to seven different towns before she was even twelve years old. After college at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, she moved to Salt Lake City where she thought she’d only stay a few years, but she fell in love with the mountains and a great guy who became her husband. After a couple of decades in Utah, she and her family recently moved to Arizona. She writes the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series, which begins with The Cracked Spine. Thin Ice is the first in a new series.
My husband and I moved to Arizona in February of 2015 but before that we lived in Salt Lake City, Utah. I moved there for an advertising job right after college. I hadn't planned on staying twenty-seven years, but I met Charlie, we got married, we had our son, and a really terrific life happened. I loved Utah, and those twenty-seven years were wonderful. Our son finished college and is working in Missouri now, and we're enjoying our new and very desert adventure.
As a kid I moved around a lot. My dad was a football coach, mostly throughout the Midwest but we spent one year in Portales, New Mexico. A couple of things stood out and and stayed with me that year. 1 - We lived in a haunted house. 2 - The southwest rubbed off on me and I have loved it ever since.
I did get to start and finish high school in one place - Des Moines, Iowa, which is a wonderful city even if the humid climate always was a challenge. I ended up going to college there too, at Drake University where I studied journalism. I made some great friends those years. I'm glad to still be in touch with many of them.
I have only ever wanted to be a writer. I've had good jobs, bad jobs, great bosses, and terrible bosses. Through it all and ever since I was seven I have only wanted to write. I'm grateful to have the opportunity now. If you're interested in my road to becoming a published author, I posted the story on my agent's blog. Click here -
I spend a lot of time on Facebook. I've been told I talk way too much about my personal life over there, but I don't see that changing any time soon. Find me if you're interested.
Shelton, Paige WINTER'S END Minotaur (Fiction None) $26.99 12, 6 ISBN: 978-1-2508-4659-4
A remote Alaskan town is a good place to hide, but no place is safe forever.
After being attacked and kidnapped by a deranged fan, novelist Beth Rivers is sheltering in Benedict, where only a few people know her real identity. While waiting for the St. Louis police to catch her assailant, Beth has put down roots. She runs the local paper and has helped the local law solve several murders. During the town's annual springtime Death Walk, designed to check up on everyone in the area at the end of the long winter, she and her friend Orin discover an elderly man in dire straits whom they get to the doctor in town. Beth lives in a halfway house usually reserved for women with nonviolent felony convictions and run by Viola, a source of knowledge on all things Benedict. The only other person living there now, however, is Chaz, a cocky male embezzler with prodigious cooking skills and little interest in reforming. Beth's dog-walking companion, Kaye Miller, comes from a family whose long-simmering feud with another local family, the Oliphants, occasionally spirals into violence. Kaye's husband, Warren, hasn't been seen for a while, so when Kaye's found murdered, he's a leading suspect. In addition, Beth is worried about Orin, who's gone missing, perhaps for reasons concerning his hush-hush government job. She's also concerned about her mother, who's busy tracking her abductor, and her father, who never returns her calls. Could Kaye have been romantically involved with an Oliphant? Beth, who won't rest till she discovers her friend's killer, puts herself in grave danger.
An excellent adventure tale set against the stunning backdrop of Alaska.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Shelton, Paige: WINTER'S END." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A726309293/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=47978885. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Winter's End: An Alaska Wild Mystery
Paige Shelton. Minotaur, $26.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-250-84659-4
Maty Higgins Clatk finalist Shelton's captivating fourth Alaska Wild mystery (after 2021 's Dark Night) finds thriller writer Beth Rivers, who moved a few years earlier from Missouri to remote Benedict, Alaska, after a traumatic incident, still getting used to local customs, such as the annual Death Walk. Each year, with the approach of spring, all citizens living in or near the town are asked to report in, so that local law enforcement teams can make sute everyone survived the winter. (A search is mounted for those who don't turn up.) This year, searchers are scouring the area for quiet, unassuming Kaye Miller, a dog-walking companion of Beth's, whose body turns up by the creek behind the community center, her head bashed in with a rock. Beth is shaken by the woman's death and sets out to discover why Kaye was targeted for murder. The rugged Alaska landscape lends atmosphere, and while this entry can be enjoyed as a standalone, there's great pleasure in reading the series from the beginning and observing Beth, a wonderfully complex character, growing stronger and more confident with each book. Hopefully, she'll have a long run. Agent: Jessica Faust. BookEnds. (Dec.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 PWxyz, LLC
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"Winter's End: An Alaska Wild Mystery." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 44, 24 Oct. 2022, pp. 59+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A726744366/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c8299d48. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
The Burning Pages. By Paige Shelton. Apr. 2022.304P. Minotaur, $26.99 (9781250789488); $13.99 (9781250789495).
American Delaney Nichols, cataloger of the treasures in the warehouse at The Cracked Spine, a bookstore in Edinburgh, Scotland, is invited to attend a dinner at an event celebrating Robert Burns. Learning her boss has a history with one of the Burns society members, Malcolm Campbell, Delaney reluctantly attends with her colleague Hamlet. Upon discovering where Delaney works, Campbell angrily leaves the gathering. When a member of the society is found murdered later that night, Hamlet quickly becomes a suspect, and Delaney is determined to clear him. Complicating matters, Delaney previously found what she believes to be Hamlet's birth certificate, so she also works to trace his parentage, as Hamlet was abandoned when he was two. Delaney interviews witnesses, ultimately connecting a previous arson, Hamlet's past, a long-missing person, a recent murder, and a new arson, spectacularly accusing the wrong person before she eventually gets it right. Framed by details about Robert Burns and his work, as well as by the ins and outs of running a bookstore, this cozy boasts numerous plot twists, appealing characters, and a lovingly described setting.--Sue O'Brien
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 American Library Association
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O'Brien, Sue. "The Burning Pages." Booklist, vol. 118, no. 15, 1 Apr. 2022, p. 20. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A701067387/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=94b96f10. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Paige Shelton. Minotaur, $26.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-250-78948-8
At the start of bestseller Shelton's engrossing sevenrh Scottish Bookshop mystery (after 2021 's Deadly Editions), solicitor Clarinda Creston invites American Delaney Nichols, who works ar the Cracked
Spine bookshop, to the annual dinner in honor of Scottish poet Robert Burns held ar Edinburgh's House of Burns. When Delaney asks whether she can bring a friend, Clarinda somewhat grudgingly says she can. Wary that Clarinda has a hidden agenda, Delaney asks her coworker Hamlet, who resembles "a young Shakespeare," to accompany her to the event, where their presence seems to unsettle some attendees, one of whom leaves in anger. After dinner, a fire erupts at the House of Burns that leads to the discovery of a dead body. When Hamlet falls under suspicion of arson, Delaney determines to find the truth and clear his name. Readers may have trouble following Delaney's reasoning as she jumps from one extreme conclusion to another, but the alluring Edinburgh setting and the camaraderie Delaney and friends display as they try to solve the crime more than compensate. Cozy fans will be enchanted. Agent:Jessica Faust, BookEnds Literary. (Apr.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 PWxyz, LLC
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"The Burning Pages: A Scottish Bookshop Mystery." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 7, 14 Feb. 2022, pp. 43+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A695588399/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c1d13a8f. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Shelton, Paige THE BURNING PAGES Minotaur (Fiction None) $26.99 4, 5 ISBN: 978-1-2507-8948-8
An American expatriate learns to love Robert Burns.
Delaney Nichols took a job organizing a warehouse full of treasures for the owner of the Cracked Spine bookstore in Edinburgh, Scotland, married a Scot, and became involved in solving a series of crimes. But none has cut closer to home than the mystery associated with a birth certificate she's found. The certificate might be that of her friend and fellow worker Hamlet, who was found wandering the streets as a young child and, years later, unofficially adopted by her boss, Edwin, and bookstore doyenne Rosie. When Delaney's invited to a special Burns dinner, she asks Hamlet to join her, knowing he's a passionate fan, though Edwin warns her there may be an ulterior motive to the invitation. Partway through the traditional dinner, after attorney Clarinda Creston has introduced Delaney and Hamlet to Charles Lexon, Malcolm Campbell, and Neil Watterton, Edwin is mentioned as the group's founder, and Malcolm calls him a scoundrel. Telling the others that she and Hamlet work for Edwin, Delaney asks why she was invited and then leaves. Later that night, the club building burns to the ground, and Watterton's body is found in the rubble. Delaney's old friend Inspector Winters questions Hamlet, who was seen that night in the company of Watterton. When Hamlet vanishes, she resolves to explore his antecedents and his possible connections to the club members in order to clear his name.
Historical Burns references add spice to a complex series of intertwined mysteries.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Shelton, Paige: THE BURNING PAGES." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A690892257/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9c31da60. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Shelton, Paige. Dark Night. Minotaur: St. Martin's. (Alaska Wild, Bk. 3). Dec. 2021. 288p. ISBN 9781250796271. $26.99. M
Winter brings isolation to the small town of Benedict, AK. Dark nights bring the stabbing death of an abusive husband, the arrest of his sister for theft, and the appearance of thriller author Beth Rivers's mother, Mill. After Beth's kidnapping and torture seven months earlier, she suffered some brain damage. Worst of all was the fear, so she fled to Alaska. As much as Beth loves Mill, her mother only adds to her apprehension. Mill has been obsessed with the disappearance of Beth's father years earlier, and Beth knows her mother has her own reasons for coming to Alaska. Now, as the townspeople rally to search for a killer and hide their secrets from a census taker. Beth, emotionally upset by the upheaval, begins to sleepwalk. She has to find the courage to take control of her life and trust her new friends in order to move on. VERDICT The follow-up to Cold Wind is atmospheric and dark with a great deal of tension. The isolated town of Benedict, with its eccentric characters, is the true star of this engrossing mystery.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Holstine, Lesa. "Shelton, Paige. Dark Night." Library Journal, vol. 146, no. 12, Dec. 2021, p. 67. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A686559321/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e7846485. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Shelton, Paige DARK NIGHT Minotaur (Fiction None) $26.99 12, 7 ISBN: 978-1-2507-9627-1
A traumatized woman slowly works through her personal issues while solving crimes in a remote Alaskan town.
Famous novelist Elizabeth Fairchild fled to Benedict after a hazardous escape from her kidnapper, which left her with a large scar and white hair. Calling herself Beth Rivers, her birth name, she runs a small newspaper and has made many friends, but only Gril, the police chief, knows her real identity. Beth's world is turned upside down by the sudden appearance of her mother, Mill, who's wanted by the police for shooting, though not killing, her daughter's kidnapper, Travis Walker. Beth gets more directly involved when wife-beater Ned Withers is found stabbed after yet another incident with his wife, Claudia. Ned's been hiding his sister, Lucy, who's also wanted by the police. Another wild card is Doug Vitner, supposedly a census man snooping around the area. Beth is both pleased and shocked by her mother's visit. Mill's been searching for years for both the husband who deserted her and for Walker, who as it turns out was dealing drugs with her husband and another missing man. But Beth begins to suspect that Mill has ulterior motives. Things get complicated as she and her friends search for a killer and try to track down Beth's kidnapper.
A character-driven mystery in a near-mystical setting, a land of stark contrasts and self-reliant denizens.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Shelton, Paige: DARK NIGHT." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A677072894/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9b3f8946. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Shelton, Paige DEADLY EDITIONS Minotaur (Fiction None) $26.99 4, 6 ISBN: 978-1-2502-0390-8
An unusual treasure hunt has criminally unintended consequences.
When American Delaney Nichols landed a job organizing a warehouse full of collector’s items at the Cracked Spine bookstore, she never thought she’d marry a Scot, make Edinburgh her home, and begin solving murders. Delaney is one of a few candidates wealthy Shelagh O’Conner has selected as the possible recipient of the vast collection of books she plans to give away. Determined to send them to a good home, Shelagh sets up a treasure hunt in which the person who finds her valuable copy of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde gets the books and a large sum of money to boot. The other candidates are Delaney’s friend Birk Blackburn, librarian Tricia Lawson, and Shelagh’s kissing cousin, Jacques Underwood. Back when she was an imaginative teen, Shelagh dressed in rags and roamed the streets pretending to be Hyde until she was accused of murder. No one was ever prosecuted for the crime. Delaney and Tom Shannon, her pub-owner husband, have an unpleasant encounter with Findlay Sweet, who works for Shelagh and still holds a grudge against Tom for an incident in his past. Teaming up, Delaney and Birk find clues that lead them to several noted Edinburgh pubs. A copycat Mr. Hyde steals and kills, but it’s only when Shelagh is kidnapped that Delaney and her friends begin sleuthing in earnest.
The amusing treasure hunt is filled with literary references that will tickle bibliophiles.
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"Shelton, Paige: DEADLY EDITIONS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2021. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A650107491/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=047fe5aa. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Shelton, Paige COLD WIND Minotaur (Fiction None) $26.99 12, 1 ISBN: 978-1-25-029531-6
A remote Alaskan area is the backdrop to disappearances and deaths.
Beth Rivers fled to Benedict after having been kidnapped and badly injured escaping her captor. Well-known as novelist Elizabeth Fairchild, she’s taken care to change her appearance in her new home and keep her secret from everyone but police chief Grilson Samuels. Beth runs a local newspaper and writes in secret while cautiously making new friends. When two filthy, nonverbal young girls turn up at her office, she calls Gril, who arrives with news of an unidentified frozen body. Having helped Gril before using talents she developed working with her grandfather, another police chief, Beth offers her help again. Since many residents live in far-flung cabins in the deep woods, secrets are easy to keep in Benedict, and almost everyone is hiding something. Back in the Lower 48, Beth’s police liaison, Detective Majors, has come up with shocking news about her kidnapper, restarting Beth’s traumatic flashbacks as she fights to maintain her mental equilibrium. Finding out who the little girls are turns out to be the easy part of Beth’s new investigation, which uncovers clues from the past that provide the key to countering ever more dangerous threats.
A gritty heroine fights for truth and justice in a world filled with darkness and flashes of hope and beauty.
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"Shelton, Paige: COLD WIND." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A636727119/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f613d5ba. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Paige Shelton. Minotaur, $26.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-250-29531-6
Bestseller Shelton's serviceable sequel to 2019's Thin Ice finds thriller writer Beth Rivers, who recently fled her home in St. Louis after being kidnapped and tortured by an unidentified assailant, still living in a halfway house for low-level. female felons in the small town of Benedict, Alaska. The appearance on the home's doorstep of two little girls, mute and covered in mud, throws Beth's new life into turmoil. When Benedict police chief Gril Samuels, Beth's friend, arrives to take charge of the children, he brings news that the frozen body of a middle-aged woman has been found in the woods. Arson and break-ins follow. Gril welcomes Beth's assistance in figuring out who's committing the crimes and why. Meanwhile, Beth is told by the St. Louis detective following her abduction case that the culprit's identity has been determined, but he's still on the loose. The appealing Alaskan atmosphere and a heroine with an intriguing backstory help make up for some pedestrian prose and the weak motives for the various crimes. Fans of light regional mysteries will be satisfied. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds Literary. (Dec)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 PWxyz, LLC
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"Cold Wind." Publishers Weekly, vol. 267, no. 40, 5 Oct. 2020, pp. 122+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A639840850/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d28c69b9. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
The Stolen Letter. By Paige Shelton. Apr. 2020.304p. Minotaur, $26.99 (9781250203878); e-book, $13.99 (9781250203885).
Still savoring her honeymoon with her pub-owning husband, Kansas-born Delaney Nichols returns to her fantasy job in a quirky Edinburgh rare-books and manuscript store, the Cracked Spine. In a rush, she bumps into a woman, Mary Stewart, who, Delaney learns, believes she lived a past life as Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Mary was on her way to the bookstore, so they continue together, chatting. Mary invites Delaney, her husband, and a co-worker to her home for dinner. The next day, while Delaney and coworkers are discussing a threat to the very existence of the bookstore and its unorthodox attached warehouse, a car bomb goes off nearby, with the sole victim being Mary's husband, Henry. As Delaney works to learn the details of the city council's plan to condemn the bookstore, she learns that Henry was behind the action, pointing to a connection between the contents of the warehouse and Mary's historical being. While some aspects of the story line are fanciful, the history Delaney uncovers as she researches tapestries, old business licenses called Burgess Tickets, and Elizabethan-era furniture is fascinating and nicely woven into the tale.--Karen Muller
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 American Library Association
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Muller, Karen. "The Stolen Letter." Booklist, vol. 116, no. 13, 1 Mar. 2020, p. 29. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A618567114/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=04f850dd. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Shelton, Paige THE STOLEN LETTER Minotaur (Adult Fiction) $26.99 4, 7 ISBN: 978-1-250-20387-8
A bookseller is once again drawn into a historical murder mystery.
No sooner has Delaney Nichols returned from her honeymoon (The Loch Ness Papers, 2019) than she runs into her doppelganger outside the Cracked Spine bookshop where she works. Mary Stewart may look just like an older Delaney, but she considers herself a reincarnation of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Intrigued, Delaney accepts Mary's invitation for her, her new husband, Tom, and Rosie, a longtime bookstore employee, to come to dinner. Meanwhile, a major problem has arisen for the bookstore because the Edinburgh council has informed Edwin, the owner, that it's failed a building code inspection. Everyone knows that the store's buildings, which include a warehouse stuffed with valuable treasures, including rare Mary Queen of Scots coins, are safe. There was never any inspection, and Edwin's more than willing to fix any problems, so no one knows why they were told the bookstore would have to close. Arriving at Mary's house, which is like a modern castle, Delaney, Tom, and Rosie meet her husband, Henry, who fails to mention that he's a city councilor--and who's gobsmacked by the resemblance between Delaney and his wife--and the other dinner guests: Mary's niece, Dina; her husband, Mikey; and Dr. Eloise Hansen and artist Gretchen Lovell, another couple. As they enjoy Henry's delicious dinner and Rosie's reminiscence of her passage on the Titanic in a past life, they can't see how dramatically their lives will soon be entwined. When Henry is killed by a car bomb the very next day, Delaney, who feels obligated to investigate, wonders what connections there might be between Henry and Mikey, who's also a city councilor, and the underhanded attempt to close The Cracked Spine. Unable to believe that two such nice men were part of a plan to ruin the bookstore, she starts digging for information, even using Tom's former girlfriend, a journalist with friends in high places, to save the store and catch the killer.
As usual, the interesting historical tidbits, local color, and charming characters far outweigh the mundane mystery.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Shelton, Paige: THE STOLEN LETTER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A613750953/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=506794ba. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Thin Ice. By Paige Shelton. Dec. 2019. 288p. Minotaur, $26.99 (9781250295217); e-book, $13.99 (9781250295224).
Physically and mentally reeling from her recent kidnapping by a stalker--she escaped, but he wasn't caught--author Beth Rivers hits the road, hiding in the small town of Benedict, Alaska. She arrives with only a backpack and a typewriter, adding to local suspicion of this newcomer; worse, she's the only paying guest in what is otherwise a halfway house for women criminals. Thanks to her police-officer grandfather, Beth has some knowledge of law enforcement, which comes in handy when a local woman, Linda Rafferty, is found dead. The death is ruled a suicide, but locals aren't convinced. Shelton's portrayal of the bonds between people that are an essential component of life in a rough environment is a highlight here; the ties that Beth forms and reluctantly relies upon save her from the more frightening elements of the two mysteries at play--whether she can remember enough about her kidnapper to put him away, and what happened to Linda Rafferty. Readers are left wondering up to the last exciting page what the answers are, and will eagerly await the second in this new Alaska mysteries series from the author of the Scottish Bookshop mysteries.--Henrietta Verma
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 American Library Association
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Verma, Henrietta. "Thin Ice." Booklist, vol. 116, no. 3, 1 Oct. 2019, p. 31. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A604002692/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=caeb462a. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Shelton, Paige THIN ICE Minotaur (Adult Fiction) $26.99 12, 3 ISBN: 978-1-250-29521-7
Prolific Shelton (The Loch Ness Papers, 2019, etc.) kicks off a new series featuring a traumatized heroine who flees to Alaska seeking safety.
Beth Rivers, an author who writes thrillers under the name Elizabeth Fairchild, spent three days in a van with an obsessed fan/kidnapper before leaping out of the moving vehicle. After having been hospitalized for injuries that required brain surgery, she's looking for a place to stay where no one will find her, and she settles on the remote town of Benedict, Alaska. The only ways to get to Benedict are by air or water, and the only one who knows Beth's true identity is Police Chief Gril Samuels, who sends park ranger Donner Montgomery to pick her up at the airfield because Gril's busy with an unexplained death. Beth's plan to stay at Benedict House is almost derailed when she discovers that the hotel is actually a halfway house for female criminals, currently three shoplifters who do odd jobs around town. Beth's father vanished when she was young, and her mother has spent years looking for him. Beth, raised mostly by her police-chief grandfather, worked for the department as a secretary, though her math and analytical skills sometimes pressed her into service as a crime-scene tech. Now she carries burner phones to keep in touch with her doctor and the detective back home who's working her case. Unable to remember everything that happened to her, she thinks her kidnapper's name is Levi Brooks but can't picture his face until she starts having flashbacks. Curious about the death of Benedict local Linda Rafferty, which could be murder or suicide, Beth takes up Gril's offer to be his consultant and also run the local newspaper, giving her a chance to research Rafferty's death as she searches for Levi Brooks. In the process, she discovers that she's far from the only person in Benedict with something to hide.
A page-turner with an unusual location and a coda that provides more questions than answers.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Shelton, Paige: THIN ICE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A601050564/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=251e848d. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Shelton, Paige THE LOCH NESS PAPERS Minotaur (Adult Fiction) $26.99 4, 2 ISBN: 978-1-250-12781-5
Not even her impending wedding can stop an intrepid sleuth from investigating a murder.
Delaney Nichols literally runs into an older gentleman just outside the door of the church she's visiting in hopes of convincing the Rev. Nisa Bellows to officiate at her nuptials. Delaney, an American who works at the Cracked Spine bookstore in Edinburgh (Lost Books and Old Bones, 2018, etc.) collating its enormous and often mysterious collection, plans to marry drop-dead-handsome pub owner Tom Shannon in a week. When Delaney finds a pack of Loch Ness Monster cards after the collision, Nisa says that they probably belong to the man Delaney ran into, Norval Fraser, whose obsession with the monster has led him to amass a huge anecdotal archive. Norval, who thinks Nessie took his father, asks Delaney if she'll accept his paperwork and continue the search herself. Back at the Cracked Spine, larger-than-life Texan Angus Murdoch arrives with a rare and valuable book he claims his grandfather stole from the store 20 years ago. But when owner Edwin MacAlister arrives, he has no recollection of the alleged theft. When he's unable to get in touch with his great-nephew, Gavin, Norval asks Delaney to accompany him to Gavin's apartment, where they find him stabbed to death. The police arrest Norval but have him hospitalized because they're unsure of his mental state. Delaney, who knows that a Ponzi-like scheme Gavin was running had earned him many enemies, is distraught when her wedding dress vanishes in a store closing just as her parents and brother arrive in town for the wedding. She takes her jet-lagged family on a quick trip to Loch Ness, then her taxi-driving friend and landlord takes them sightseeing while she continues her quest to clear up all the mysteries before her wedding day.
The material on the eternally enigmatic Loch Ness Monster is a good deal more absorbing than the subpar mystery.
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"Shelton, Paige: THE LOCH NESS PAPERS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A571549219/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e7edf472. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Shelton, Paige LOST BOOKS AND OLD BONES Minotaur (Adult Fiction) $25.99 4, 3 ISBN: 978-1-250-12779-2
Shades of the 19th-century Burke and Hare murders haunt an American lass working in Edinburgh.
Delaney Nichols is the capable assistant to Edwin MacAlister, whose bookstore, The Cracked Spine, is known for housing rare books and a secret room rumored to be packed with treasures. Delaney's become friendly with medical students Sophie and Rena, who recently sold her boss some distinctive hand-drawn medical books. At a pub one night, Delaney meets the respected but rather odd Dr. Eban, one of their professors, who's obsessed with William Burke and William Hare, infamous for selling corpses--often those of people they murdered--to Dr. Robert Knox for his dissection classes at the university. Also at the pub is their friend Mallory, whose body Delaney's co-workers Hamlet and Rosie find the next morning in the close behind the bookstore. Delaney has worked with Inspector Winters in the past (Of Books and Bagpipes, 2017, etc.), but the man in charge of this case is another American transplant, Inspector Raymond Pierce. Even so, Delaney can't resist the urge to look into the mystery. Her research turns up some strange things, from Dr. Eban's former friendship with a man still wanted for murder to a set of scalpels that most likely belonged to Dr. Knox. Though her boyfriend, Tom, is supportive of her sleuthing, his past gets her in a bit of trouble when one of his jealous ex-girlfriends, now a reporter, writes a piece hinting that Delaney has something to hide. Delaney's friends who work at the university are a major help in discovering more clues, but so many people are hiding secrets that it will be an uphill struggle to unmask the killer.
A complicated mystery with plenty of historically based characters and whose ending provides more than one kind of surprise.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Shelton, Paige: LOST BOOKS AND OLD BONES." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2018. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A525461635/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=56229113. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
Lost Books and Old Bones
Paige Shelton. Minotaur, $25.99 (320p)
ISBN 978-1-250-12779-2
Deceit and misdirection abound in Shelton's diverting third Scottish Bookshop Mystery (after 2017's Of Books and Bagpipes). Kansan Delaney Nichols is finally feeling at home in Edinburgh, thanks largely to her job at the Cracked Spine, a mysterious bookstore specializing in rare manuscripts and historical objects. Delaney is fascinated when medical student friends tell her of their "wee bit odd" professor who's obsessed with Burke and Hare, 19th-century killers who sold the corpses of their victims to Dr. Robert Knox for dissection in his anatomy classes at Edinburgh University. But when one of the students is found dead in the alley behind the bookstore with a human skull placed next to her body, Delaney vows to discover who did it. Could the murder have to do with artifacts in the bookstore that may have belonged to Dr. Knox? Impulsive Delaney rushes thoughtlessly into danger, and the intricate plot becomes confusing in places. But Shelton's lovely depictions of Edinburgh, its denizens, and its bookshops will enchant lovers of cozies with a Scottish setting. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds Literary Agency. (Apr.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
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"Lost Books and Old Bones." Publishers Weekly, vol. 265, no. 6, 5 Feb. 2018, p. 45. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A526810388/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f3a46c5b. Accessed 13 Jan. 2023.
December 03, 2019
Thin Ice
By Paige Shelton
Review by G. Robert Frazier
A title like Thin Ice immediately connotes danger, and New York Times bestselling author Paige Shelton delivers in every way. A sense of dread persists from the opening page to the novel’s surprising conclusion, with an overall tense mood and an all-too-real terror felt by the book’s protagonist, Beth Rivers.
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A title like Thin Ice immediately connotes danger, and New York Times bestselling author Paige Shelton delivers in every way. A sense of dread persists from the opening page to the novel’s surprising conclusion, with an overall tense mood and an all-too-real terror felt by the book’s protagonist, Beth Rivers.
Beth is also known as Elizabeth Fairchild, the famous penname under which she writes popular thrillers. When we first meet her, Beth is on the run from a violent encounter—a kidnapping by an obsessed fan and a dramatic escape. Her flight takes her to the remote village of Benedict, Alaska, where she hopes to elude her assailant, who is still at large.
Beth’s scars, both internal and external, are real. Internally, she suffers from an overriding fear that even though she has put hundreds of miles between her former and new lives, she may still be in danger. Externally, there is a ragged scar on her head incurred during her escape, serving as a constant reminder of her close brush with death.
Shelton methodically introduces Beth to a wide-ranging cast while swiftly ramping up the tension. It’s not yet winter, but Beth’s Alaskan environment is already harsh, cold and remote. While most of the people she encounters in the village appear to be supportive and caring, she can never quite let go of her suspicions that any one of them could mean her harm—or worse, expose her real identity.
With more memories of her ordeal threatening to return, Beth takes on a new role as the community newspaper’s only reporter and thrusts herself into an ongoing investigation of a local death. New secrets and questions abound, leaving Beth to wonder if she has escaped one threat only to have fallen into another.
Thin Ice is the first in a series from Shelton, who is best known for her Scottish Bookshop Mystery cozy series. But there is nothing cozy here, only danger.
Thin Ice: A Mystery
Image of Thin Ice: A Mystery (Alaska Wild, 1)
Author(s):
Paige Shelton
Release Date:
December 3, 2019
Publisher/Imprint:
Minotaur Books
Pages:
288
Buy on Amazon
Reviewed by:
C. C. Harrison
"Thin Ice is primed for a sequel."
Author Paige Shelton is the prolific NYT bestselling author of several cozy mystery series including the Farmers Market Mysteries, Country Cooking School Mysteries, A Dangerous Type Mystery Series, The Scottish Bookshop Mystery Series, and others.
This new book, the first in her Wild Alaska Series, is intended to be a breakaway from the comfort of cozy mystery to something darker and grittier. However, you can take the author out of the cozy, but you can't always take cozy out of the author. Much of Thin Ice reads like a cozy with the same tone, tenor, and rhythm found in that popular mystery subgenre. Cozy is definitely there especially in the beginning pages.
In the story, Beth Rivers, well known as thriller writer Elizabeth Fairchild, checks herself out of the hospital where she's being treated for brain damage and other serious injuries suffered as the result of an assault and kidnapping by one of her fans. Seeking safety, she's run off to the tiny town of Benedict, Alaska, forsaking her pending medical treatments.
Upon her arrival in Benedict, she is surprised to find that she has mistakenly reserved a room in a halfway house for female ex-cons instead of the quiet, quaint Benedict House hotel she'd expected. Nevertheless, she is determined to settle into a new life despite having arrived ill-prepared without cold weather gear and little cash or resources.
So traumatized over her kidnapping, she remembers almost nothing about it. She doesn't remember being taken, what happened during the three days she was held prisoner, or what her kidnapper looked like. She knows his name is Levi Brooks, and that he's never been caught.
As a result, she's skittish as a colt, jumping out of her skin at every unexpected sound, sudden movement, or side glance. Even the sight of a black and red lumberjack jacket triggers a PTSD response. Beth knows such behavior is out of the norm, but she's unable to control it:
"I gritted my teeth and held my breath. I understood my post-traumatic reaction, and I also understood it was uncalled for. It was as if I was operating in two different but parallel realms. I knew normal, remembered it, could see it there next to me. But I was in that other realm, where the monsters lived."
She meets a variety of likable and interesting locals, some of whom are running away or hiding out just as she is. Because of her mystery writing experience, the local sheriff asks her to become a volunteer crime consultant. She agrees thinking it will help heal her post traumatic issues, but also, because she has written a book where one of her characters was in that particular line of work:
"After all, that had been my first victim's job. Fictionally speaking, of course. 37 Flights had introduced Hailey Boston, who was attacked inside a corporate building where she was working one evening. The entire book had been one night of cat and mouse as . . ."
Beth continues on and on with a rather lengthy narrative describing her book to which one of the ex-cons replies, "My goodness, that sounds boring. . . ."
Beth eventually finds herself in the midst of an investigation. A local woman, Linda Rafferty, is found dead, and there's a question of suicide or murder. From here, the story thread of Beth's kidnapping morphs into the investigation of Linda Rafferty's death. Only one of those mysteries is solved at the end signaling a possible sequel.
Throughout the book, Beth continues to experience flashbacks that release buried memories of her kidnapping:
"My patchy memory had managed to dredge up the facts that Levi's van was brown and either said Chevy, Chevrolet, or had a Chevrolet emblem somewhere on it . . ."
There are a few instances in this slow moving somewhat talky novel where the reader might question the validity of Beth's reaction to her circumstances. On the way to Benedict in a bush plane, having just escaped from the hospital, injured, in pain, and terrified, her demeanor seems a bit out of character.
Even so, readers will sympathize with Beth, and be enthralled with the colorful descriptions of Alaska:
". . . Alaska's geography was so big that other things seemed smaller than they normally would, things like Hank's plane and Benedict's downtown.
" . . . Benedict House took up most of the corner, but there was also a bar named, 'Saloon' and a restaurant named 'Food' on one side of the corner. The other side held a 'Mercantile' and a 'Post Office.' A statue of a friendly-looking bear stood in front of the whole setup."
Thin Ice is primed for a sequel.
Thin Ice
Paige Shelton. Minotaur, $26.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-250-29521-7
This disappointing series launch from bestseller Shelton (the Scottish Bookshop mysteries) introduces Beth Rivers, a thriller author and recent kidnap victim, who flees from St. Louis to Benedict, Alaska, to hide from her attacker. With limited lodging available, Beth stays at Benedict House, a halfway house for criminals, where she does her best to acclimate herself to living with felons. When the Benedict police chief asks her to take over the village’s newspaper, Beth’s decision to write an article on the mysterious death of local Linda Rafferty lands her in the middle of a murder investigation. Her experience as a secretary for a small-town police department comes in handy. As she talks to a town full of potential suspects, she quickly realizes she’s not the only one hiding from something in Benedict. Too many unresolved subplots overshadow the intriguing setup and distinctive setting. In the end, Beth’s reason for moving to Alaska proves more interesting than the mystery behind Rafferty’s death. Agent: Jessica Faust, Bookends Literary. (Dec.)
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DETAILS
Reviewed on: 09/18/2019
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Compact Disc - 978-1-9749-9069-6
Library Binding - 500 pages - 978-1-64358-493-5
MP3 CD - 978-1-9749-9073-3
Mass Market Paperbound - 336 pages - 978-1-250-76609-0
JANUARY 2, 2022
REVIEW: DARK NIGHT BY PAIGE SHELTON
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: December 7, 2021
Source: Netgalley via Publisher
SUMMARY:
Dark Night is the third book in the gripping, atmospheric Alaska Wild series by beloved cozy author Paige Shelton, in which Beth is met with an unexpected visitor: her mom…
Winter is falling in the remote town of Benedict, Alaska, and with the cold comes an uninvited guest. The dreaded “census man,” seemingly innocuous, is an unwelcome presence to those members of this secretive community who would prefer to keep their business to themselves. Meanwhile, thriller writer Beth Rivers has received her own unexpected visitor: her mother. The last Beth heard, Mill Rivers had gone underground in the lower forty-eight, in search of Beth’s kidnapper, and Beth can’t help but be a little alarmed at her appearance: If Mill was able to track down her daughter, who knows who else might be able to?
Beth doesn’t have time to ponder this for long, after a battered woman stumbles into the town bar one night, and her husband is found dead the next morning. Suspicions immediately turn to the census man, but when he, too, goes missing, everyone in Benedict—including the police chief—is suspected, and Beth and Mill must work to figure out what really happened. Meanwhile, in the lower forty-eight, another author has disappeared, and the police think Beth’s kidnapper just may be at it again…
MY THOUGHTS:
This is the third book in Paige Shelton’s Alaska Wild Mysteries series and I really enjoy these books! The series has such a dark, gritty feel to it and is completely atmospheric, too!
Once again, my favorite part of this series continues to be the combination of police procedural and amateur sleuthing. It just works so well here. I will say that while this book can absolutely be read as a stand-alone with its contained mystery, there is the continuing thread of Beth’s kidnapping and with the introduction of Beth’s mother showing up, that is really developed here in this book.
Having Beth’s mom, Mill show up brings so many questions, the biggest being just how she ended up finding her. It’s definitely a case of what you see is not what you get with her and I definitely found myself completely suspicious of her motives the entire time.
This book is such a great addition to an already fantastic series and while we do get some answers to some of the questions that have been brought up, we of course are left with more. I cannot wait to see what comes next and hopefully get more answers soon.
DECEMBER 15, 2020
REVIEW: COLD WIND BY PAIGE SHELTON
Title: Cold Wind
Author: Paige Shelton
Series: Alaska Wild Mysteries, #2
Published: December 2020, Minotaur Books
Format: ARC E-copy, 296 pages
Source: Netgalley via Publisher
Summary:
Second in a new series set in Alaska from beloved cozy author Paige Shelton, Cold Wind will chill your bones.
Beth
Rivers is still in Alaska. The unidentified man who kidnapped her in
her home of St. Louis hasn’t been found yet, so she’s not ready to go
back.
But as October comes to a close, Benedict is feeling more
and more like her new home. Beth has been working on herself: She’s
managed to get back to writing, and she’s enjoying these beautiful
months between summer and winter in Alaska.
Then, everything in
Benedict changes after a mudslide exposes a world that had been hidden
for years. Two mud-covered, silent girls appear, and a secret trapper’s
house is found in the woods. The biggest surprise, though, is a dead and
frozen woman’s body in the trapper’s shed. No one knows who she is, but
the man who runs the mercantile, Randy, seems to be in the middle of
all the mysteries.
Unable to escape her journalistic roots, Beth
is determined to answer the questions that keep arising: Are the
mysterious girls and the frozen body connected? Can Randy possibly be
involved? And―most importantly―can she solve this mystery before the
cold wind sweeping over the town and the townspeople descends for good?
My thoughts: This is the second book in Paige Shelton’s Alaska Wild Mysteries series and I loved it just as much as the first one, if not more! This series has such a dark, gritty feel to it and is completely atmospheric, too!
There are so many things I love about this series, but one that really stands out is how we have a combination of an amateur sleuth and a police procedural. I love this and think it really works well here. I also love that our main character, Beth, is a writer. She is such a fascinating character to begin with, but with all that she has been through, it just adds to the intrigue. Now that some of her memory is coming back, there is a little more tension surrounding her and of course, she can’t help but insert herself into the mystery surrounding the young girls and the frozen woman.
While this can be read as a standalone as the author does give just enough backstory to fill you in on what has happened in the first book, I highly suggest reading it. It will make for a much richer reading experience as there is a plot line that is carried over and will be continued into the next book(s). This is what I love about series – that one continued plot line that builds over the course of multiple books. In this case, it is the basis for Beth moving to Alaska in the first place and that is explained in the first book. We get a little more detail here in this book and are left with a bit of a cliffhanger on that end.
I really enjoy this series and am eager for the next book to be released. This is the perfect read for this time of year…the cold, Alaskan setting makes for a chilly, tense read and I cannot recommend this one enough!
ARC Review: “The Burning Pages,” by Paige Shelton
IMAGE ~ MAY 8, 2022 ~SAMFSM
Another day, another *slightly* late ARC review. I read Paige Shelton’s newest installation of the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series, The Burning Pages, (book 7!) the minute I received the ARC… which was way too early. I ended up having to reread my favorite parts just for this review. I have had the pleasure of reviewing book 5 and book 6 of this series, and all I can say is, keep ’em coming!
From the Publisher:
Delaney Nichols faces off against an elusive arsonist in the seventh Scottish Bookshop Mystery, The Burning Pages, from beloved author Paige Shelton….
One winter’s night, bookseller Delaney Nichols and her coworker Hamlet are invited to a Burns Night dinner, a traditional Scottish celebration of the poet Robert Burns. She’s perplexed by the invitation, but intrigued. The dinner takes place at Burns House itself, a tiny cottage not far from the Cracked Spine bookshop but well hidden. There, it becomes clear that Delaney and Hamlet were summoned in an attempt to make amends between Edwin, Delaney’s boss, and one of the other invitees, who suspected Edwin for burning down his own bookshop twenty years ago after a professional disagreement.
But after the dinner, there’s another fire. The Burns House itself is burned to the ground, and this time there’s a body among the ruins. When Hamlet is accused of the crime, Delaney rushes to prove his innocence, only to discover that he might actually have a plausible motive…
What I Loved:
Robert Burns. Many of the Scottish Bookshop Mysteries focus on a specific time period, author, or book (previous themes included Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Loch Ness Monster, and Mary Queen of Scots) so I was waiting with baited breath for when Shelton would turn to Robert Burns as Scotland’s most famous poet. I was not disappointed. Centered around a murder at a Robert Burns fan club on Burns Night, I was immediately hooked into the story and Scotland’s rich literary tradition. My new life goal is to get to Scotland for a Burns Night celebration (who knows, maybe I will even survive).
Hamlet’s History. For those of you who haven’t read this series yet, Hamlet is a quiet young man that works at the Cracked Spine book store with Delaney and Edwin. He was an orphan, and Edwin took Hamlet under his wing and Hamlet (as of this book) is in college and doing well. However, Hamlet’s origin story was always shrouded in mystery, and finally in The Burning Pages, we get to learn Hamlet’s story. And man, what a story. As one of my favorite characters in this series, it was delightful and bittersweet to see Hamlet’s origins and how he came to be on the streets. Looking forward to seeing the aftermath of the bombshells from this book.
What Didn’t Work as Well:
Delaney’s Sleuthing. Delaney’s style of sleuthing has always been on the wrong side of bold for me, and Burning Pages was no exception. Delaney goes as far as to try and bully a seasoned barrister to confess to the crime (the barrister did not do it, by the way), and yells at the detective that she has a close relationship with for even thinking Hamlet could be a suspect. She is pushy, stubborn, and doesn’t have any sense of danger avoidance. Delaney is not here to make friends, and I am often confused how she keeps the ones she does have.
The Pace. The middle of Burning Pages frankly dragged. The beginning was a whirlwind and so much fund, the end was twisting and suspenseful, but the middle got bogged down by almost too many red herrings and misdirections. I wish that it was interspersed with more intrigue.
The (Lack of) Bookish Voices. Delaney’s bookish voices come and go in this series, and this installation was on the waning side of the voices. I wish that Shelton had stuck with consistently using the voices and making them a major plot point, but maybe they didn’t “test” well.
Conclusion:
The Burning Pages is not the strongest installation in the Scottish Bookshop Mysteries, but it does add much needed background to one of the best characters. It is always a pleasure going back to scenes of beautiful Scotland and books galore, and will always be a favorite series of mine. Three and a half waves! This book came out last month, so grab your copy here! For those of you new to the series, pick up book one, The Cracked Spine here (on sale in paperback!)