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Avril Dahl #3
Cold Mercy
Winter doesn’t forgive. Neither does she.
When a fisherman cuts a hole in a frozen lake and sees a face staring back from the ice, Stockholm detective Avril Dahl is sent north to a town that keeps its sins under snow.
Norrdal has three cops, long nights, and a body pulled from Frostsjön. The victim is a young reporter who knew too much and trusted the wrong person. With the autopsy days away and evidence vanishing under fresh snowfall, Avril has to rebuild the woman’s last hours from scratch, one small-town secret at a time.
The trail winds through a crowded bar, a source who only talks off the record, and a community that closes ranks. The boyfriend is grieving. The truth is not. And somewhere in the dark, a ghost from Avril’s past is still watching. If Avril can’t drag the truth to the surface before the next storm rolls in, the lake won’t be the only thing keeping its dead.
Cold Mercy is a tense, atmospheric Nordic thriller with a fierce heroine, a frozen-lake murder, and a town built on silence. Bundle up. This case cuts to the bone.
When a fisherman cuts a hole in a frozen lake and sees a face staring back from the ice, Stockholm detective Avril Dahl is sent north to a town that keeps its sins under snow.
Norrdal has three cops, long nights, and a body pulled from Frostsjön. The victim is a young reporter who knew too much and trusted the wrong person. With the autopsy days away and evidence vanishing under fresh snowfall, Avril has to rebuild the woman’s last hours from scratch, one small-town secret at a time.
The trail winds through a crowded bar, a source who only talks off the record, and a community that closes ranks. The boyfriend is grieving. The truth is not. And somewhere in the dark, a ghost from Avril’s past is still watching. If Avril can’t drag the truth to the surface before the next storm rolls in, the lake won’t be the only thing keeping its dead.
Cold Mercy is a tense, atmospheric Nordic thriller with a fierce heroine, a frozen-lake murder, and a town built on silence. Bundle up. This case cuts to the bone.
262 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 21, 2025
602 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
L.T. Ryan
166 books1,458 followersL.T. RYAN is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling author. The new age of publishing offered L.T. the opportunity to blend his passions for creating, marketing, and technology to reach audiences with his popular Jack Noble series.
Living in central Virginia with his wife, the youngest of his three daughters, and their three dogs, L.T. enjoys staring out his window at the trees and mountains while he should be writing, as well as reading, hiking, running, and playing with gadgets. See what he's up to at ltryan.com.
BOOKS IN THE JACK NOBLE SERIES
The Recruit (prequel short story)
The First Deception (prequel)
Noble Beginnings
A Deadly Distance
Thin Line
Noble Intentions
When Dead in Greece
Noble Retribution
Noble Betrayal
Never Go Home
Noble Judgment
Never Cry Mercy
Deadline
End Game
BOOKS IN THE BEAR LOGAN SERIES
Ripple Effect
Blowback
Takedown
Deep State (coming January, 2020)
BOOKS IN THE CLARISSA ABBOT SERIES
Beyond Betrayal
BOOKS IN THE MITCH TANNER SERIES
The Depths of Darkness
Into the Darkness
Deliver Us From Darkness (coming soon)
Social Media Links
Facebook (L.T. Ryan): facebook.com/LTRyanAuthor
Facebook (Jack Noble Page): facebook.com/JackNobleBooks/
Twitter: twitter.com/LTRyanWrites
Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/6151659.L_T...
Contact L.T. Ryan at contact@ltryan.com
About the Author
L.T. RYAN is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling author. The new age of publishing offered L.T. the opportunity to blend his passions for creating, marketing, and technology to reach audiences with his popular Jack Noble series.
Living in central Virginia with his wife, the youngest of his three daughters, and their three dogs, L.T. enjoys staring out his window at the trees and mountains while he should be writing, as well as reading, hiking, running, and playing with gadgets. See what he's up to at ltryan.com.
Social Media Links
Facebook (L.T. Ryan): facebook.com/LTRyanAuthor
Facebook (Jack Noble Page): facebook.com/JackNobleBooks/
Twitter: twitter.com/LTRyanWrites
Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/6151659.L_T...
Contact L.T. Ryan at contact@ltryan.com
Living in central Virginia with his wife, the youngest of his three daughters, and their three dogs, L.T. enjoys staring out his window at the trees and mountains while he should be writing, as well as reading, hiking, running, and playing with gadgets. See what he's up to at ltryan.com.
BOOKS IN THE JACK NOBLE SERIES
The Recruit (prequel short story)
The First Deception (prequel)
Noble Beginnings
A Deadly Distance
Thin Line
Noble Intentions
When Dead in Greece
Noble Retribution
Noble Betrayal
Never Go Home
Noble Judgment
Never Cry Mercy
Deadline
End Game
BOOKS IN THE BEAR LOGAN SERIES
Ripple Effect
Blowback
Takedown
Deep State (coming January, 2020)
BOOKS IN THE CLARISSA ABBOT SERIES
Beyond Betrayal
BOOKS IN THE MITCH TANNER SERIES
The Depths of Darkness
Into the Darkness
Deliver Us From Darkness (coming soon)
Social Media Links
Facebook (L.T. Ryan): facebook.com/LTRyanAuthor
Facebook (Jack Noble Page): facebook.com/JackNobleBooks/
Twitter: twitter.com/LTRyanWrites
Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/6151659.L_T...
Contact L.T. Ryan at contact@ltryan.com
About the Author
L.T. RYAN is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling author. The new age of publishing offered L.T. the opportunity to blend his passions for creating, marketing, and technology to reach audiences with his popular Jack Noble series.
Living in central Virginia with his wife, the youngest of his three daughters, and their three dogs, L.T. enjoys staring out his window at the trees and mountains while he should be writing, as well as reading, hiking, running, and playing with gadgets. See what he's up to at ltryan.com.
Social Media Links
Facebook (L.T. Ryan): facebook.com/LTRyanAuthor
Facebook (Jack Noble Page): facebook.com/JackNobleBooks/
Twitter: twitter.com/LTRyanWrites
Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/6151659.L_T...
Contact L.T. Ryan at contact@ltryan.com
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 31, 2025
The body of a murdered young woman under the ice, results in a case that takes Avril out of her comfort zone. One that sends her a to small town in the frozen north, a grey environment a world away from the bright lights of Stockholm she is accustomed to. The local police department is tiny, with no experience of murder investigations, so help is requested.
Like most small communities it is a tight knit one, where Avril is very much an outsider. Her first obstacle will be working with her police colleagues.
The young woman was a journalist. Her workload before her disappearance is the obvious place to start the investigation, as a source for a motive for her murder. She had been looking at possible corruption between local business and government, illegal logging activity and had to produce a feature piece on why the town loses its young to the big cities. This means she must navigate between those with indue influence, that is out of proportion when compared to this in cities. A case of big fish in a small pond, though one of them turns out to be a shark.
The story builds up nicely and the pacing increases correspondingly, compelling the reader to keep going. Our heroine is certainly intrepid, reckless enough to put herself in harms way, which produces some edge of the seat action scenes. The conclusion is one that the reader might sense a touch of foreshadowing from the early chapters, in it brings a sense of mirroring events of the early chapters. I was able figure out the whodunnit aspect before the conclusion, the clues are there, but even so found it to be an enjoyable read.
It certainly captures what most readers would think of Sweden in the depths of winter. Its cold, icy and snow bound, with few hours of daylight, all of which provide obstacles to Avril’s investigation. This also brings out other aspects of life in the more remote regions, fishing through holes in the ice, snow mobiles and the importance of isolated cabins, many of which remain unlocked and provide refuge to the unwary when the weather closes in.
Naturally the narrative focuses on Avril, as she deals with the obstacles put in her way and uses her people skills to win over locals and form allies. Her own insecurities are never far away, and she feels lost without Krister. This provides a nice balance between characters, environment and plot action.
Like most small communities it is a tight knit one, where Avril is very much an outsider. Her first obstacle will be working with her police colleagues.
The young woman was a journalist. Her workload before her disappearance is the obvious place to start the investigation, as a source for a motive for her murder. She had been looking at possible corruption between local business and government, illegal logging activity and had to produce a feature piece on why the town loses its young to the big cities. This means she must navigate between those with indue influence, that is out of proportion when compared to this in cities. A case of big fish in a small pond, though one of them turns out to be a shark.
The story builds up nicely and the pacing increases correspondingly, compelling the reader to keep going. Our heroine is certainly intrepid, reckless enough to put herself in harms way, which produces some edge of the seat action scenes. The conclusion is one that the reader might sense a touch of foreshadowing from the early chapters, in it brings a sense of mirroring events of the early chapters. I was able figure out the whodunnit aspect before the conclusion, the clues are there, but even so found it to be an enjoyable read.
It certainly captures what most readers would think of Sweden in the depths of winter. Its cold, icy and snow bound, with few hours of daylight, all of which provide obstacles to Avril’s investigation. This also brings out other aspects of life in the more remote regions, fishing through holes in the ice, snow mobiles and the importance of isolated cabins, many of which remain unlocked and provide refuge to the unwary when the weather closes in.
Naturally the narrative focuses on Avril, as she deals with the obstacles put in her way and uses her people skills to win over locals and form allies. Her own insecurities are never far away, and she feels lost without Krister. This provides a nice balance between characters, environment and plot action.
October 18, 2025
I love the combination of Biba Pearce and L.T.Ryan, I know when I start reading one of their books that I am going to lose sleep, this one was no exception.
A local fisherman looked in horror at the frozen lake, staring at him from under the ice was the body of a young woman, her hair floating with the flow of the water,
Detective Avril Dahl had worked for the FBI but was now working for the Serious Crimes Division of the Stockholm Police Department.
When a call for help came through from the tiny town of Norrdal, Avril was the one chosen to help, it would keep her out of the way of Odin, the leader of Terra Nova, who still had her in his sights.
Norrdal was five hours from Stockholm, it was in the middle of nowhere, it was much colder and the snow was much deeper, the reception that she got at the local police station was less than friendly, the only people who worked there were Hans Bergqvist, who was in charge, Maja Ekstrom, a young but eager research assistant, and sullen Erik Lundgen, barely out of training, it was obvious that they were completely out of their depth with a murder.
It didn't take long for Avril to get them working as a team, the murdered girl was an investigative journalist, a journalist who was following leads into powerful companies, companies who would stop at nothing to keep their secrets, but would they stoop to murder ?
It soon became evident that the young reporter wasn't the only missing girl, how deep did this go, how far did it stretch, what was the common denominator ?
This is an edge of your seat story, a roller coaster ride, many suspects, many red herrings but few clues, a definite page turner. I love Avril's complex character, I love the tentative relationship with Krister Janson and can't wait to see how it pans out. A well earned five stars.
I received a free copy of this book and my review is voluntary
A local fisherman looked in horror at the frozen lake, staring at him from under the ice was the body of a young woman, her hair floating with the flow of the water,
Detective Avril Dahl had worked for the FBI but was now working for the Serious Crimes Division of the Stockholm Police Department.
When a call for help came through from the tiny town of Norrdal, Avril was the one chosen to help, it would keep her out of the way of Odin, the leader of Terra Nova, who still had her in his sights.
Norrdal was five hours from Stockholm, it was in the middle of nowhere, it was much colder and the snow was much deeper, the reception that she got at the local police station was less than friendly, the only people who worked there were Hans Bergqvist, who was in charge, Maja Ekstrom, a young but eager research assistant, and sullen Erik Lundgen, barely out of training, it was obvious that they were completely out of their depth with a murder.
It didn't take long for Avril to get them working as a team, the murdered girl was an investigative journalist, a journalist who was following leads into powerful companies, companies who would stop at nothing to keep their secrets, but would they stoop to murder ?
It soon became evident that the young reporter wasn't the only missing girl, how deep did this go, how far did it stretch, what was the common denominator ?
This is an edge of your seat story, a roller coaster ride, many suspects, many red herrings but few clues, a definite page turner. I love Avril's complex character, I love the tentative relationship with Krister Janson and can't wait to see how it pans out. A well earned five stars.
I received a free copy of this book and my review is voluntary
December 15, 2025
In the freezing cold Nordic winters and frozen lakes, a constant, regular fisherman drills through the ice, and who'd have thought he'd actually hit the spot that turned the small town’s police department upside down? A stroke of bad luck? Or good? Finding a frozen woman’s body? Special Agent Avril Dahl, from Serious Crimes Division, Stockholm, has a big job ahead of her, beginning with a long winter drive, about 5 hours from her home base. I had chills from the first page to the last, and I'm not talking about the weather - it's a fantastic thriller, and I could not put this book down. So many twists and turns, I was dizzy reading and rereading, trying to figure out who the killer was, not wanting to miss one beat of it. (I must admit, I did have a cozy warm blanket around me as well.) This is yet another Avril Dahl story (#3), that took my breath away. I'm very pleased to be an Arc for Biba Pearce and this is my honest review. Kudos to Biba Pearce and L.T. Ryan - 5 full stars from me!
October 7, 2025
When a body is discovered frozen beneath the ice of a northern Swedish lake, Detective Avril Dahl is dispatched to assist the overwhelmed local police. The small-town force is out of its depth—and as Avril begins piecing together the mystery, she realizes this murder is only the beginning.
What starts as a straightforward investigation quickly turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse. As Avril grows closer to the local officers, the stakes rise—and the killer gets closer.
An atmospheric, pulse-pounding thriller packed with tension, sharp twists, and unforgettable action. A must-read for fans of crime and relentless suspense.
What starts as a straightforward investigation quickly turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse. As Avril grows closer to the local officers, the stakes rise—and the killer gets closer.
An atmospheric, pulse-pounding thriller packed with tension, sharp twists, and unforgettable action. A must-read for fans of crime and relentless suspense.
October 25, 2025
To protect Avril Dahl from a former nemesis who is out to get her, she is sent to a remote area in Sweden. A body of a young woman is found in the frozen Frostjon lake and Avril has to assist the Chief of Police to find the killer. The victim was a reporter and the police feel that her death was meant to cover up something she wanted to expose. Then Avril finds out that other young women have vanished. Is it the work of a serial killer? This riveting and suspenseful page turner was well crafted and had me guessing. The psyche of the killer and the meticulous handling of the case, has been well portrayed.
October 27, 2025
I received an advance review copy (ARC) & I am leaving this voluntary, honest review.
Cold Mercy is the third installment in the series featuring Avril Dahl.
This time around, we find Avril sent off on her own to assist a small police station after a body has been discovered under the ice of a local lake.
The body is identified as that of a local reporter, but the reason, or reasons for her murder, or who committed it aren't as easy to determine.
Avril must learn this, as well as navigating how things are done differently in a small town.
As always, lots of mystery & action and intrigue. Definitely worth reading.
Cold Mercy is the third installment in the series featuring Avril Dahl.
This time around, we find Avril sent off on her own to assist a small police station after a body has been discovered under the ice of a local lake.
The body is identified as that of a local reporter, but the reason, or reasons for her murder, or who committed it aren't as easy to determine.
Avril must learn this, as well as navigating how things are done differently in a small town.
As always, lots of mystery & action and intrigue. Definitely worth reading.
September 26, 2025
Another great book featuring Avril love the character as she tries to solve a murder a fast paced story with twists that keep you guessing.
Avril is a strong woman who never gives up and I found myself willing her on and finished the book in one sitting.
Loved the twist at the end, can't wait for the next story.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Avril is a strong woman who never gives up and I found myself willing her on and finished the book in one sitting.
Loved the twist at the end, can't wait for the next story.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
October 22, 2025
Wow, is this a cracking thriller or what. I was seriously engrossed from the start right through to the end. Even though I managed to guess who was responsible but not until it was nearly finished. I do so love this author’s books, cannot get enough of them. What are we going to be graced with next I wonder. Cannot wait to find out. Highly recommended.
November 2, 2025
CC1
This was definitely a great Avril chapter . She went in took over investigation and figured out Lara was investigating Freya disappearance. Lara found out Hans was murderer. Avril went in and proved the help of Hans police officers. Avril almost paid the price with her life. Excellent chapter. 10 stars plus!!!!! Thanks Carl Clause
This was definitely a great Avril chapter . She went in took over investigation and figured out Lara was investigating Freya disappearance. Lara found out Hans was murderer. Avril went in and proved the help of Hans police officers. Avril almost paid the price with her life. Excellent chapter. 10 stars plus!!!!! Thanks Carl Clause
October 28, 2025
Stayed up way too late to finish this!
Fast-paced, with twists and turns that keep you on your toes. A great reflection of what we sometimes know in our hearts but remains hidden far too deep to realize it.
Fast-paced, with twists and turns that keep you on your toes. A great reflection of what we sometimes know in our hearts but remains hidden far too deep to realize it.
October 3, 2025
Avril is sent out of town to investigate a murder and little did she know what she was going to find! Great characters and an awesome book.
November 1, 2025
Terrific, thank you!
November 9, 2025
Took me a bit to read (I have 2 autistic kids) but, such a good book! All books by Biba Pearce are always good! I always enjoy reading her writing. The suspense! Another great one!
November 26, 2025
Great twists and turns
Great read look forward to next book
The Dahl series has been a fun read out loud for me and wife!
Great read look forward to next book
The Dahl series has been a fun read out loud for me and wife!
December 20, 2025
Suprised
i did not see that coming.
thank you for the totally suprise ending.
this was a great murder mystery read.
i did not see that coming.
thank you for the totally suprise ending.
this was a great murder mystery read.
January 11, 2026
good read
Good read with lots of twists and turns through out. Good story and very interesting characters. Looking forward to the next in the series.
Good read with lots of twists and turns through out. Good story and very interesting characters. Looking forward to the next in the series.
October 21, 2025
Fantastic book!
Biba Pearce is an amazing, yet underrated author. Her series keep growing in number and in length with each marking the peak of excellence in their genres. The Avril Dahl thrillers grew out of another series she co-writes with L. T. Ryan, the Dalton Savage Mystery books.
This being the third Avril Dahl installment, the main character has really hit her stride. I've seen a great deal of character growth but the thrilling down-to-earth police investigations are the driving force here. Try out one of her many books and become a fan as I have.
Biba Pearce is an amazing, yet underrated author. Her series keep growing in number and in length with each marking the peak of excellence in their genres. The Avril Dahl thrillers grew out of another series she co-writes with L. T. Ryan, the Dalton Savage Mystery books.
This being the third Avril Dahl installment, the main character has really hit her stride. I've seen a great deal of character growth but the thrilling down-to-earth police investigations are the driving force here. Try out one of her many books and become a fan as I have.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews