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Thursday 16 February 2017

‘Death in Winter' by Ian McFadyen



Published by the Book Guild,
24 November 2016.
ISBN 978-1-911320-27-2


This is a skilfully planned police procedural set in rural Lancashire.  Inspector Steve Carmichael is expecting a Christmas break with his family but finds that a woman's disappearance requires his attention.  His team of detectives work well together as they pursue separate lines of enquiry into what happened to Hayley Bell.   Hayley's female friends and her eccentric husband need careful handling as Steve searches for traces of the missing woman who boarded a local train and then vanished.

Steve's chagrin at the loss of his holiday is mitigated by the enjoyment of a respite from his demanding relative Aunt Audrey who has left her care home to join Steve and family.  The selfish requirements of the cantankerous aunt are met mainly by Steve's long suffering wife, Penny; the relative is Steve's and not Penny's as she points out! 

The scenes of the family Christmas contrast well with the peculiar relationships of the friends and relatives of Hayley.  When events escalate to murder the detection hots up too.  This is a workmanlike story that holds the reader's attention through to the cleverly twisted ending.
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Reviewer: Jennifer S. Palmer
This is the seventh in the series about DI Carmichael.

Photo courtsey of Harry Atkinson
Ian McFadyen is the author of the Carmichael series of Murder Mystery novels, set in rural Lancashire. With five books published to date, McFadyen has built up a strong following and is particularly well supported by library borrowers – being positioned in the top 10% of most loaned authors in the last two years. Favourably mentioned alongside Wilkie Collins and Colin Dexter, McFadyen’s titles – Little White Lies , Lillia’s Diary, Frozen to Death, Deadly Secrets and Killing Time, are all available in paperback and on kindle. His first four books are available in large print and Deadly Secrets is also available in Italian.
Ian is also on Twitter if you would like to get in touch:                    @IanMcFadyen1


Jennifer Palmer Throughout my reading life crime fiction has been a constant interest; I really enjoyed my 15 years as an expatriate in the Far East, the Netherlands & the USA but occasionally the solace of closing my door to the outside world and sitting reading was highly therapeutic. I now lecture to adults on historical topics including Famous Historical Mysteries.






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