This is the fourth entry in his mystery series featuring Phillip Dryden who lives and works as a local reporter in the town of Ely located in the Cambridgeshire Fens. The location of these books is important as the author weaves his plots in and around the Fens which enables them to become essential to the story.

This one is set over the Christmas/New Year holiday season during a period of extreme cold weather. Following up on a story about taking the proper cold weather precautions, the discovery of first one and then a second frozen body alerts Dryden to a possible series of murders disguised to look like suicide or accidents. As these victims happen to also be involved in an investigation regarding abuse by a Catholic orphanage, Dryden is drawn into a search that will eventually lead him to the past and a half remembered mystery from his own childhood.

We also are following the ongoing story of Phillip Dryden’s wife, who is in the process of emerging from a coma and his guilt and anxiety about her. They were in a car accident a few years ago where the vehicle sank into a marsh. He was rescued but she was trapped in the car, under water for three hours. In this book, we discover that his wife has concerns of own regarding the future.

I enjoyed this book, the story was interesting and not exactly what I expected, which is always a pleasant surprise in a mystery. A well written story enhanced by his use of the setting to create great atmosphere ( )

I found this a bit disappointing having recently read two of his police stories set in Kings Lynn, which I thought were excellent. This is a convoluted plot with several flash backs involving many of the characters which didn't help clarity. Disappointing. ( )

Like this series a lot, enjoying the development ( )