Ice Lake - Stone Cold by Julie Miller

Stone Cold by Julie Miller

First Chapter First Paragraph

"I found her."
Daniel Stone turned his face to the wind and braced against the crystals of snow biting into his skin.
This storm was going to be a bad one. The certainty came from the years he'd spent growing up on this mountain, as much as from the weather warnings that were shutting down this region of the northern Rockies in Montana. The blizzard was almost here. He could read it in the rising wind speed and in the moisture that turned the dry snow, so perfect for skiing, into icy shards that meant trouble for all but the most experienced of mountain survivalists like himself. He knew Mount Atlas the way mamas knew their babies, the way a shaman knew the earth itself. And he knew that in the next few days - in the next few hours, even - everything around him would change. The storm would bring whiteout conditions, windchills, closed roads and buried landmarks.

Page 34 (pg 241 of Ice Lake)

Other than the fact they were using candles and kerosene lanterns instead of electricity to add more light to the meager sunshine seeping through the windows, it could pass for any afternoon at the resort lodge during the height of ski season

Page 56 (pg 263 of Ice Lake)

The older man was already backing toward the hallway.  "I need you to come and look at something," he said.

Review

This last story added an element that the other two stories did not. The author gave us insight to the character of the second strangler. The insight given gives clues to the readers of his identity before the Deputy figures it out for herself. While the added insight was appreciated, and I enjoyed it better than Gone Cold, it still failed to hold my attention as well as Cold Heat.