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Deep Freeze
262 pages, Paperback
Published March 8, 2025
1 person want to read
About the author
Anne Louise O'Connell
12 books30 followersAuthor, developmental editor and partner publisher, Anne Louise O’Connell, was an expat from 1993 to 2016, then returned to Canada after enjoying the sun and sand of Florida, Dubai and Thailand over a span of 23 years. Anne worked in the PR field for 17 years and then decided it was time to just write. Since 2007, Anne has been writing books while freelance writing, editing, author mentoring and social media consulting, along with conducting writing retreats and workshops. While living the expat life, she contributed to Wall St. Journal Expat, Global Living Magazine and Expat Focus. She has a passion for travel and that adventurous spirit has taken her all over the world. Anne grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and has a bachelor of public relations and a certificate in early childhood education from Mount St. Vincent University. In 2016, she established OC Publishing where she mentors other authors, does developmental book editing and partner publishing.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 7, 2026
This mystery was very easy to get into and stay engaged with to the last page. Great characters and an intriguing plot with plenty of shocking revelations along the way.
Set in exotic Dubai where expats from around the world mingle with the wealthy, taking full advantage of a playground designed to satisfy every need possible. Susan Morris certainly enjoys the life of leisure as the wife of a pilot working for a national airline, but she has a nursing background now on hold, and this leaves an emptiness needing to be filled.
This is why she leaps into action when her friends are struggling with a devastating accident, little knowing that it would suddenly take a much more sinister turn.
As the story develops we are introduced to characters from both the wealthy local residents and their multi-national staff who on the surface are treated well, but there are troubling signs all is not what it seems.
What follows is shocking, and as Susan’s need to investigate comes to the attention of those in high places, her safety and those around her is threatened. This is a place of wealth and privilege but is also a place of severe restrictions and penalties for ignoring them.
With her husband frequently absent for his job, Susan has to find a strength and courage to go it alone with a deep sense of distrust for those around her.
I am very happy to give this book five stars and highly recommend.
Set in exotic Dubai where expats from around the world mingle with the wealthy, taking full advantage of a playground designed to satisfy every need possible. Susan Morris certainly enjoys the life of leisure as the wife of a pilot working for a national airline, but she has a nursing background now on hold, and this leaves an emptiness needing to be filled.
This is why she leaps into action when her friends are struggling with a devastating accident, little knowing that it would suddenly take a much more sinister turn.
As the story develops we are introduced to characters from both the wealthy local residents and their multi-national staff who on the surface are treated well, but there are troubling signs all is not what it seems.
What follows is shocking, and as Susan’s need to investigate comes to the attention of those in high places, her safety and those around her is threatened. This is a place of wealth and privilege but is also a place of severe restrictions and penalties for ignoring them.
With her husband frequently absent for his job, Susan has to find a strength and courage to go it alone with a deep sense of distrust for those around her.
I am very happy to give this book five stars and highly recommend.
March 25, 2025
Enjoyed this story thoroughly, kept me turning the pages and I didn't want to put it down.
September 26, 2025
Anne Louise O’Connell’s Deep Freeze is a suspenseful mystery set against the unlikely backdrop of Dubai’s indoor ski slopes, posh neighborhoods, and glossy hospitals. At the heart of the story is Susan Morris, an American ex-pat nurse whose curiosity and compassion pull her into the chaos following a tragic ski lift accident that nearly kills her friend’s husband, Dr. Barry Thornton. What begins as a personal favor to comfort a friend quickly spirals into a dangerous investigation involving hospital coverups, cryogenic experiments, and the exploitation of domestic workers. The book moves briskly, balancing cultural detail with medical intrigue, and it doesn’t take long before Susan realizes she’s in over her head.
I was hooked from the start. The writing has a straightforward flow that makes it easy to slip into Susan’s world. What really grabbed me was the way O’Connell built tension through ordinary settings. A shopping mall ski slope or a hospital hallway doesn’t sound like a thriller, but the unease creeps in, and before you know it, you’re bracing yourself for the next turn. I found myself both frustrated and impressed with Susan. She’s stubborn, she pushes too far, but she’s also brave in a way that feels relatable rather than superhero-like. At times, the dialogue felt a little stiff, but the energy of the plot kept me flipping pages late into the night.
Emotionally, the book hit me harder than I expected. The parts dealing with exploited domestic workers left a knot in my stomach. It’s not just about crime or corruption, it’s about people living in the shadows of luxury and power. That gave the story real weight. I also felt for Susan as her marriage slowly unraveled in the background. Those quieter moments balanced out the faster-paced mystery, and I found myself caring as much about her personal struggles as the central investigation. The suspense had my pulse up, but the human side of it tugged at me even more.
Deep Freeze is a gripping read that I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys mysteries with both heart and grit. If you like thrillers that blend cultural insight with medical drama, you’ll find a lot to love here. It’s especially for readers who want a strong but imperfect female lead, someone who feels like a real person caught in extraordinary circumstances.
I was hooked from the start. The writing has a straightforward flow that makes it easy to slip into Susan’s world. What really grabbed me was the way O’Connell built tension through ordinary settings. A shopping mall ski slope or a hospital hallway doesn’t sound like a thriller, but the unease creeps in, and before you know it, you’re bracing yourself for the next turn. I found myself both frustrated and impressed with Susan. She’s stubborn, she pushes too far, but she’s also brave in a way that feels relatable rather than superhero-like. At times, the dialogue felt a little stiff, but the energy of the plot kept me flipping pages late into the night.
Emotionally, the book hit me harder than I expected. The parts dealing with exploited domestic workers left a knot in my stomach. It’s not just about crime or corruption, it’s about people living in the shadows of luxury and power. That gave the story real weight. I also felt for Susan as her marriage slowly unraveled in the background. Those quieter moments balanced out the faster-paced mystery, and I found myself caring as much about her personal struggles as the central investigation. The suspense had my pulse up, but the human side of it tugged at me even more.
Deep Freeze is a gripping read that I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys mysteries with both heart and grit. If you like thrillers that blend cultural insight with medical drama, you’ll find a lot to love here. It’s especially for readers who want a strong but imperfect female lead, someone who feels like a real person caught in extraordinary circumstances.
June 9, 2025
𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑾𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑵𝒐𝒘! 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑱𝒐𝒏 𝑻𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆.
Deep Freeze, a novel by Anne Louise O'Connell
I read the last chapter of Deep Freeze in the hospital emergency room, which was a perfect location to finish this fun and feisty cosy mystery. Cosy in the sense that (per Wikipedia) it’s a “a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur offstage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small socially-intimate community.”
Deep Freeze opens with a shocking incident at Dubai’s famous indoor ski hill. I had heard about this snow-in-the-desert before and loved experiencing it through the eyes and skiis of Susan Morris, our amateur sleuth. Halifax-based author Anne Lousie O’Connell lived in Dubai and the locations leap off the page with authentic first-hand experience, giving me a sense of what it would be like as a Westerner living in the UAE.
Bad things keep happening, and our heroine never takes the easy route of looking away. A man is attacked in hospital. A home is broken into. A Sri Lankan maid goes missing. Susan, with no special powers but curiosity and compassion, dives into the mystery to try and save the missing maid - and a lot of other vulnerable women. The strong female characters were one of the most enjoyable parts of the book. Public images of the UAE tend to focus on men, so it was a treat to go inside homes and minds of local women, Westerners, and the other international women who come to the UAE for work. This book aces the Bechdel test!
It’s the second book in O’Connell’s Deep Mysteries (Deep Deceit, 2016), but it was the first one I read, and one that makes you want to read the entire series. I also read Louise Penny’s Three Pines books in the order the library sent them to me, and I think here too each book pulls you deeper into the world, but I don’t think you need to read them in order.
Deep Freeze is a great summer read, so buy a copy and throw it in your bag, or get it on your phone so it’s always with you - even in the emergency room! (kidney stone, horrific pain, wonderful medical staff, full recovery.)
Deep Freeze, a novel by Anne Louise O'Connell
I read the last chapter of Deep Freeze in the hospital emergency room, which was a perfect location to finish this fun and feisty cosy mystery. Cosy in the sense that (per Wikipedia) it’s a “a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur offstage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small socially-intimate community.”
Deep Freeze opens with a shocking incident at Dubai’s famous indoor ski hill. I had heard about this snow-in-the-desert before and loved experiencing it through the eyes and skiis of Susan Morris, our amateur sleuth. Halifax-based author Anne Lousie O’Connell lived in Dubai and the locations leap off the page with authentic first-hand experience, giving me a sense of what it would be like as a Westerner living in the UAE.
Bad things keep happening, and our heroine never takes the easy route of looking away. A man is attacked in hospital. A home is broken into. A Sri Lankan maid goes missing. Susan, with no special powers but curiosity and compassion, dives into the mystery to try and save the missing maid - and a lot of other vulnerable women. The strong female characters were one of the most enjoyable parts of the book. Public images of the UAE tend to focus on men, so it was a treat to go inside homes and minds of local women, Westerners, and the other international women who come to the UAE for work. This book aces the Bechdel test!
It’s the second book in O’Connell’s Deep Mysteries (Deep Deceit, 2016), but it was the first one I read, and one that makes you want to read the entire series. I also read Louise Penny’s Three Pines books in the order the library sent them to me, and I think here too each book pulls you deeper into the world, but I don’t think you need to read them in order.
Deep Freeze is a great summer read, so buy a copy and throw it in your bag, or get it on your phone so it’s always with you - even in the emergency room! (kidney stone, horrific pain, wonderful medical staff, full recovery.)
March 4, 2025
This was my first read by the author and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, right from the off it felt a different type of thriller.
Book 2 in the Deep Mystery series featuring Susan Morris, easily reads as a standalone
As a read it has plenty of heart stopping moments where lives are literally in danger
It is slickly plotted with an opening which grabs your attention but cleverly gives you no indication of what is behind it or what will follow, which is a fast paced thriller which had me hooked throughout.
Opening the book is a ski resort in one of the hottest places in the world was a perfect introduction and as will become apparent, vital to the plot. There is an overiding intelligence to the plot, complex and wonderfully layered
There is plenty of internal politics in play and dodgy deals going on, of these though they just shroud the story in more mystery so that your never quite sure who is on which side
A read which picks up in intensity as you read on, the writing throughout is played against a backdrop of suspense which gives the book an edge.
Susan is an interesting character to some degree you feel she is a little bored by her life looking for a little excitement, she has a fearlessness to try and seek the truth, though in a foreign country in world which is mainly male dominated that can be a little tricky. The setting of the book played into giving the story another added dimension
As a who dunnit I was second guessing myself throughout, the why dunnit I found fascinating in terms of the way people can be manipulated and how greed and power can corrupt
There is a human morality to the plot and shows the vulnerability and sense of hopelessness that some feel in a foreign country and how they can easily become victims. It is also a read with plenty of moral dilemmas to be faced
It became a read which I found hard to put down as I was so invested in the characters and the plot
I will definitely be going back to read book 1 and will be looking out for future books by the author
If you like slick paced thrillers packed with suspense and drama, then this book is for you, one to recommend.
Book 2 in the Deep Mystery series featuring Susan Morris, easily reads as a standalone
As a read it has plenty of heart stopping moments where lives are literally in danger
It is slickly plotted with an opening which grabs your attention but cleverly gives you no indication of what is behind it or what will follow, which is a fast paced thriller which had me hooked throughout.
Opening the book is a ski resort in one of the hottest places in the world was a perfect introduction and as will become apparent, vital to the plot. There is an overiding intelligence to the plot, complex and wonderfully layered
There is plenty of internal politics in play and dodgy deals going on, of these though they just shroud the story in more mystery so that your never quite sure who is on which side
A read which picks up in intensity as you read on, the writing throughout is played against a backdrop of suspense which gives the book an edge.
Susan is an interesting character to some degree you feel she is a little bored by her life looking for a little excitement, she has a fearlessness to try and seek the truth, though in a foreign country in world which is mainly male dominated that can be a little tricky. The setting of the book played into giving the story another added dimension
As a who dunnit I was second guessing myself throughout, the why dunnit I found fascinating in terms of the way people can be manipulated and how greed and power can corrupt
There is a human morality to the plot and shows the vulnerability and sense of hopelessness that some feel in a foreign country and how they can easily become victims. It is also a read with plenty of moral dilemmas to be faced
It became a read which I found hard to put down as I was so invested in the characters and the plot
I will definitely be going back to read book 1 and will be looking out for future books by the author
If you like slick paced thrillers packed with suspense and drama, then this book is for you, one to recommend.
January 15, 2025
DEEP FREEZE by Anne Louise O'Connell. Published by OC Publishing
How lucky I am to have received an ARC for this March release. Started and finished on a plane ride from Calgary to Toronto. I was not in Canadian air space I was 100% in Dubai and fully riveted to this story - the second in her Deep Mysteries Series.
Susan Morris is back ignoring dangers and paying attention when her spine tingles with knowing when something is wrong.
The author has done her homework on cryogenics, medical and research ethics and the slippery slope researchers might travel down to be the first to discover cures. Susan Morris stumbles on an evil cabal preying on domestic workers to gain in the big money making world of illicit, human organ harvesting.
In Anne Louise O'Connell's author hands this reader was taken in twists and turns in the investigation. Her face paced plotting left me breathless and furiously turning pages. I literally found my hands flying to my heart in the tension building suspense she artfully weaves. A perfectly satisfying conclusion leaves me waiting with bated breath for the third book in this trilogy.
Expertly woven into this compelling mystery I discovered rich insight into the ethical and moral dilemmas of domestic workers and the elite class of Dubai.
This book deserves all the praise it has already received and undoubtedly will receive as readers receive their copies coming in March 2025. Do yourself a favour and add this book to your TBR.
How lucky I am to have received an ARC for this March release. Started and finished on a plane ride from Calgary to Toronto. I was not in Canadian air space I was 100% in Dubai and fully riveted to this story - the second in her Deep Mysteries Series.
Susan Morris is back ignoring dangers and paying attention when her spine tingles with knowing when something is wrong.
The author has done her homework on cryogenics, medical and research ethics and the slippery slope researchers might travel down to be the first to discover cures. Susan Morris stumbles on an evil cabal preying on domestic workers to gain in the big money making world of illicit, human organ harvesting.
In Anne Louise O'Connell's author hands this reader was taken in twists and turns in the investigation. Her face paced plotting left me breathless and furiously turning pages. I literally found my hands flying to my heart in the tension building suspense she artfully weaves. A perfectly satisfying conclusion leaves me waiting with bated breath for the third book in this trilogy.
Expertly woven into this compelling mystery I discovered rich insight into the ethical and moral dilemmas of domestic workers and the elite class of Dubai.
This book deserves all the praise it has already received and undoubtedly will receive as readers receive their copies coming in March 2025. Do yourself a favour and add this book to your TBR.
June 22, 2025
“The prickling sensation had returned, like an army of ants running across her neck.”
Amateur sleuth Susan Morris isn’t averse to immersing herself in danger, but she’s attuned to her intuition and manages to keep out of too much trouble. Set in Dubai, I enjoyed Anne Louise O’Connell’s descriptions, which conjured up memories of the seven years I lived in the Middle East. Anne captures jarring experiences like a man-made ski resort in the middle of the desert and exposes tensions between the expat workers and elite citizens. Solid medical research, including details of cryogenics, gave credence and depth to Anne’s descriptions. Susan is a flawed but likable protagonist, and the ruthless researcher, Nala Al Qasimi. makes for a formidable foil. End of chapter twists and cliff-hangers roused my curiosity to the many questions that kept popping up as layers of deceit and cover-ups piled upon one another.
Amateur sleuth Susan Morris isn’t averse to immersing herself in danger, but she’s attuned to her intuition and manages to keep out of too much trouble. Set in Dubai, I enjoyed Anne Louise O’Connell’s descriptions, which conjured up memories of the seven years I lived in the Middle East. Anne captures jarring experiences like a man-made ski resort in the middle of the desert and exposes tensions between the expat workers and elite citizens. Solid medical research, including details of cryogenics, gave credence and depth to Anne’s descriptions. Susan is a flawed but likable protagonist, and the ruthless researcher, Nala Al Qasimi. makes for a formidable foil. End of chapter twists and cliff-hangers roused my curiosity to the many questions that kept popping up as layers of deceit and cover-ups piled upon one another.
March 9, 2025
O'Connell has an unfair advantage over most other writers and she uses it to great advantage. She's lived in -- not visited; LIVED IN -- so many countries. And this international perspective brings a rare vibrancy to her work. It doesn't hurt that she also creates splendid characters and places them in constant jeopardy. Can't wait for the next installment, to be set in Paris.
April 7, 2026
Great storyline- it drew me in from the first page to the last. An interesting look at life in the UAE and a study in organ harvesting. Well done Anne! I'm looking forward to the next book in the 'Deep' series.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews