The Book Diva's Reads

Troy Chance is a highly independent woman. She left her home and family in Tennessee and moved to Oregon to attend college at the age of seventeen. After completing college she eventually relocates to the Adirondack region of upstate New York, the Lake Placid/Saranac area. She worked for a few years as the sports editor for the local paper before becoming a freelance journalist. She's renting a house and sublets several of the bedrooms to various athletes and townsfolk. Her constant companion is her dog, Tiger. A Cold and Lonely Place begins with Troy watching the Winter Festival ice palace preparations when suddenly a body is discovered under the ice . . . the body of one of her roommate's missing boyfriend. Troy is immediately pulled into the investigation when she is asked to take pictures of the scene for the local police. She then breaks the news of Tobin's death to her roommate, Jessamyn. What follows is a discovery of the secrets and hidden past in both Tobin and Jessamyn's lives.

Once again Troy is pulled into an investigation, but this time she is functioning more as an investigative journalist as she's been asked to write a series of articles about Tobin for the local paper. As Troy seeks answers to who Tobin was and how he wound up in their small town, she learns that appearances can be deceiving and that Tobin was much nicer than she ever knew. Tobin was running from a past but not from any mistakes he made but from his family and disappointment. Her search for the truth also unveils secrets of Jessamyn's past of abuse, neglect and disappointment. The only roommate that is fully developed and explored is Jessamyn, but she winds up becoming a good friend to Troy and vice versa. Troy is also befriended by Tobin's surviving sibling, his sister Jessica known as Win. Win plays a pivotal role in helping Troy uncover the truth about Tobin's past and life after he left his family.

A Cold and Lonely Place seems to focus more on relationships and Ms. Henry does an admirable job in creating characters that you can relate to and be empathetic toward. The drama in this story comes more from Troy's reactions to the information she uncovers as well as how that information impacts others through her articles. Characters from Learning to Swim make reappearances, such as Canadian police detective Jameson, Paul and Philippe Dumond and their nanny/housekeeper Elise, as well as Troy's brother Simon, a police detective in Florida, and her longtime friend Baker. Jameson, Simon and Baker all function as sounding boards for Troy as well as advisers. It was fascinating to see the changes in relationships evolve as Win and Jessamyn go from being casual acquaintances to friends. At its heart A Cold and Lonely Place is a mystery but also a great read about family and relationships and their continued impact on our lives. I found A Cold and Lonely Place to be an amazing read and one that I enjoyed from beginning to end. If you enjoy mysteries and drama, then I strongly recommend you read A Cold and Lonely Place (if you haven't read Learning to Swim then add that to your TBR list as well . . . you won't be disappointed).