Cold Girl by R.M. Greenaway

Cold Girl is her first novel and was the winner of the 2014 Arthur Ellis Unhanged award. Kiera Rilkoff is the lead singer of Fling and she has suddenly gone missing. Has she run away because of musical differences or has she become another victim of the Pickup Killer? Follow the RCMP as they try to solve this mystery in snowbound Canada.

I really enjoyed reading this book and it did not matter that I have never been to Canada, because her writing was so descriptive that I could picture the scene in my mind’s eye. Greenaway managed to convey the harshness of the weather and the terrain so well that her book will appeal to any reader throughout the globe. She puts you clearly in the scene and includes the language and multi-culturalism running in the background of BC.

There was a lovely diverse range of Police Officers working the case. What made this novel so good was that these Police Officers were not the best, they had their failings but did what they could. There was none of the glamour of wonderful, high achieving detectives just modest officers trying to play their part.

The plot was very good with great attention paid to the small details which hung everything together. Only at the end did all the little details explain what had actually happened and why. Character development was good and I liked the way each chapter centered on a different person.

I got a lot of pleasure from reading this book. It gives you a feeling of hope that nothing bad has happened to Kiera and that she will pop up somewhere alive but cold and tired from a trek across the snow.

A lot of work has gone into this book, it is a very good story and the quality of writing is first class. She not only ticks all the boxes but gives you such pleasure as your thoughts change about what has happened to Kiera. I could find nothing wrong with this novel and it gets the top score of 5 stars from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Dundurn for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.