Cold Call: A Cold Poker Gang Mystery

Cold Poker Gang #2

by Dean Wesley Smith

USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith returns with a new novel in his popular series about a group of retired Las Vegas Police detectives playing poker and solving cold cases.

When retired detective Bayard Lott offers to help retired detective Julia Rogers search for her lost friend near a remote Idaho lake, they find clues that might lead them directly to the most dangerous serial killer in Las Vegas history.

Set in the rugged mountains of Idaho, this twisted mystery pits the Cold Poker Gang against a master criminal.

“…Dean Wesley Smith draws a royal straight flush by making the hand he deals readers seem possible with this exhilarating political poker thriller…”—The Midwest Book Review on Dead Money

Genres: Mystery

222 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 20, 2015

About the author

Pen Names
Edward Taft
Dee W. Schofield
Sandy Schofield
Kathryn Wesley

Dean Wesley Smith is the bestselling author of over ninety novels under many names and well over 100 published short stories. He has over eight million copies of his books in print and has books published in nine different countries. He has written many original novels in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller, and romance as well as books for television, movies, games, and comics. He is also known for writing quality work very quickly and has written a large number of novels as a ghost writer or under house names.

With Kristine Kathryn Rusch, he is the coauthor of The Tenth Planet trilogy and The 10th Kingdom. The following is a list of novels under the Dean Wesley Smith name, plus a number of pen names that are open knowledge. Many ghost and pen name books are not on this list because he is under contractual obligations not to disclose that he wrote them. Many of Dean’s original novels are also under hidden pen names for marketing reasons.

Dean has also written books and comics for all three major comic book companies, Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse, and has done scripts for Hollywood. One movie was actually made.

Over his career he has also been an editor and publisher, first at Pulphouse Publishing, then for VB Tech Journal, then for Pocket Books.

Currently, he is writing thrillers and mystery novels under another name.

Reviews

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the first book in this series—so much so that I was nervous about trying book number two because it would be so difficult for Smith to write a sequel worthy of the original. And yet he comes very close to pulling it off by having the wisdom to write a different kind of story. Instead of presenting his retired detectives with an old-fashioned mystery, he gives them a problem they resolve in a manner that is reminiscent of the old movie The Sting. I’m not saying that they create a con, but they do lay a trap that is designed to bring a very clever serial murder out into the light of day.

The bulk of the book is almost a police procedural. They find a body that they have reason to believe might be the victim of the serial murderer and that body almost immediately leads them to a ghastly treasure trove of other victims. Realizing the opportunity this creates for them, they set apart laying a trap that they hope will provide justice for a startlingly high number of victims. It’s no Kill Game, but it is a very good story.

[Sandy Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting storyline.

While the plot is good and the characters likeable, this one falls short. It felt repetitive in spots and the ending was very unsatisfactory. Yes, the killer was sick but why the cars? Why the embalming? Why that type? How had they known from the first it was him? Too many unanswered questions for a mystery supposedly solved and not a continuing story.

[Darth Dragonetti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Up next from Darth's Colossal Stack of Stuff is "Cold Call," by Dean Wesely Smith. "Cold Call" is the second book in the Cold Poker Gang series, featuring a group of retired detectives who get together to play poker and solve cold cases. The Cold Poker Gang series is set in the same universe as the Doc Hill stories, and he is even used as a character. "Cold Call" was originally published serially in Smith's Monthly and was later released as a full novel in 2021. If you don't know anything about poker, fear not; the book is accessible to any reader. No poker experience required!

When Trish, an old friend of Julia Rogers, goes incommunicado, she asks fellow Cold Poker Gang member Bayard Lott to travel with her to Idaho to see about her friend's whereabouts. While the two retired detectives figure nothing untoward has happened to Trish, they are a little uneasy about how her disappearance follows the modus operandi of a suspected serial killer.

"Cold Call" is a short but hard-hitting murder mystery with an engaging plot and well-developed characters. Dean Wesley Smith spins an entertaining yarn with a convincingly rendered mystery that will keep you in genuine suspense while trying to guess what will happen next. The tone of "Cold Call" is markedly darker than its predecessor, "Kill Game." Some of the imagery the author conjures up is genuinely disquieting, and the mood is much more tense--and often creepy. My only real complaint with the novel is the mediocre quality of editing. Dean Wesley Smith is, without a doubt, a master wordsmith, but "Cold Call" comes across as a hastily written, hastily edited effort. I know Dean pumps his fiction out at a furious rate, but he can do better, especially given his own experience as an editor. If I'm going to buy a novel from a reputable publisher, I expect better editing.

In terms of characterization, the book has a lot going for it. A lot of the main characters are old enough for AARP memberships, so the characters are generally numerologically superior to your typical action heroes. Perhaps because the author is of a similar age, he renders the characters exceptionally well, and in a loving way. Author Smith continues to develop the budding romantic relationship between Rogers and Lott, and this continued development helps bridge one novel to the next.

If you're looking for a competently crafted mystery with great characters, check out "Cold Call." While the writing won't knock your socks off, it's a quick and entertaining read that will likely leave you hungry for some more fun with the Cold Poker Gang.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fairly short A-to-B serial killer hunt with a couple of moments of real tension. Unfortunately weighed down by mundane filler, poor prose and unbelievable coincedences.

The premise rests on the MC's girlfriend's friend Trish going missing in the mountains, and the MC immediately suspecting a particular serial killer from a past case is involved with zero evidence.
Of course, Trish has been murdered by that very killer. And by a further million-to-one chance she owns a cabin on the very same lake (in the middle of nowhere) where the killer has dumped fifty plus victims from his career of killing. What a coincedence!

I thought this had to pay off at some point, surely it's too neat. But no, there really was no explanation behind it. There was an attempt to throw loads of information at the reader at the end to make it seem like the killer had planned everything, but none of it explained this huge coincedence that the entire plot rested on.

The rest of the book flits between moving forward the plot (which is fine, if plodding) and describing character's clothes, breakfast choices and explaining information that the reader already knows to other characters.

A couple of chapters could have been removed entirely without ever impacting the plot.

The word choices are jarring in some places. Example:

it was isolated. Very, very, very isolated.

I think it was supposed to be dramatic but it was just comical. Throw in grammar errors and sections repeating with different wording and the whole thing just felt unpolished.

It wouldn't need much to make it a four star: cut the filler, add in a few more twists and turns (it's very linear for the slick mystery it advertises itself as), and either fix the huge coincedence at the start or have it pay off at the end.

It had few moments of tension, but the characters aren't ever in danger until the very end. They go to the lake house, find the body, follow the clues that they work out immediately, and flawlessly execute a plan to catch the bad guy. There's a single moment of danger where the killer has them right where he wants them, but he bungles it by monologuing, allowing them to simply move away from the trap. The killer doesn't realise they got away, despite them having every chance to, and he then blows himself up by accident. Not winning any evil-genius-of-the-year awards over here...

[melveen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted to read this after reading a sample of it in the first book of the series.

The plot is good. Kinda unrealistic but still good.

But the editing is crap. Misspelled words including the main character’s name, dialogue was confusing a bit because it quoted the dead woman saying something when obviously she’s dead, and missing words..

This on top of Lott and Julia’s growing relationship. And the weird way the author writes about what they’re wearing and boring details of what they’re eating.

The plot was too good to give up on so I just pushed through despite its faults.

[Friscomama · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book 2 in the Cold Poker Gang series. It's another quick interesting read from Dean Wesley Smith. The focus is on the detectives and their allies; the bad guy does not get too much attention; while the villain's crimes are horrendous, that point is made clear without venturing into gore porn.

[Ruth A Calvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good mystery by this writer. I didn't expect the fast ending though. Seems that the perp was too smart to go out the way he did. (if it was really him) HA . Lots of twists and turns and quite a surprise with the ending, and who played who.

[Richard S Cutcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catching a sick, slick killer

Another good mystery that identified the killer early but had gotten away with it for so many years and made the police look foolish all the way but in the end he looked foolish

[Allan McLeod · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting retired detective premise wrapped in a love story. I bit Angela Lansbury for my taste.

[Richard Weber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not to mystifying

A pretty rote written book without a hidden ending so good guy beats and guy good guy gets girl and off to next book in series

[Barnard Madsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun read in the Cold Poker Gang series, with twists and turns.

[Merle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another well-done Police procedural, with the duo from the first book taking the lead again. This one is more personal for Julia Rogers.

[Chris Gillies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good storyline and characters but a bit annoying that Lott’s dead wife is called Carol in this second book when previously called Connie in book one

[Yvette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy this series of books. This one was very good.

[Rick T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading this series. They are an easy read with good characters.

[Dianne Gow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book can't wait to read more from this series.

[Ronald Re · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kept me turning pages every day!

Good plot and characters creation - I real enjoyed the read!
Can wait for the next book. One day I hope to write fiction as good as this!

[David Macpherson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another readable thriller. The cold poker gang tracks down and stops a rich creepy serial killer. Nothing fabulous about it, but sometimes readable is what I'm looking for and it was that. Wish there was more poker playing in the books though.