Such a Winter's Day

by Carlene Thompson

Juliet Reid wasn't able to save her murdered brother almost ten years ago. Can she face her demons to stop an ice-cold killer in their tracks a decade later?

Nine and a half years ago, Juliet's talented brother Fin should have returned home. He didn't. When Juliet set out to find him that snowy winter evening, she made a devastating discovery.

Now, Juliet returns to the small town of Parrish, Ohio to celebrate her twenty-fifth birthday with her parents. But when she arrives, she receives the shocking news that her father appears to have committed suicide. Why was he so distant shortly before his death? And why was he suddenly asking questions about Fin before his brutal murder?

As Juliet tries to come to terms with another family tragedy, she finds herself at the center of a series of spine-tingling events. What chilling secrets did her father uncover, and can she stop an ice-cold killer who's determined to keep them hidden?

Genres: Fiction

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2022

About the author

Carlene Thompson is an author of suspense thriller novels.

Her first book, Black for Remembrance, was published in 1990 by Little, Brown and was well received. Her books are suspense novels, often with romantic elements and many take place in Thompson's home state of West Virginia. Her books often feature animals, which she bases on animals she knows in real life.

Reviews

[Sue Kowalczyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable and Drawn Out

Rarely, do I want a book to end but this one did just that. Shallow character depth, predictable plot twists, overwrought writing. To be fair , I'm not much for romance novels so the love story in this supposed suspense mystery was not a plus for me.

[Rhonda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took way too long to get to the actual killer, who then confessed & killed himself....Carlene Thompson usually writes much better books

[Ricki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story follows the tragedies surrounding Juliet Reid's family and friends. It is a slow moving story of Juliets' brothers murder and then others before and after Fin that all point to one person at the end.

Both Juliet and her best friend Leslie find out at nearly the same time and decide to confront the killer.
The multiple murders affect nearly every character in the book yet it wasn't figured out for 20+ years.

[Christine Mathieu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many family members and friends of the family died and are still dying which makes this story rather unbelievable.
Also: the early thrillers by Carlene Thompson had less dialog and more atmosphere (and thus more suspense).
That's what I'm missing in her last 3 books.

What I like about her thrillers: in her books there are always dogs described. Carlene Thompson took real life dogs as models for her book dog characters.

[Diane Saul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten years ago Juliet’s brother was murdered and now her Father appears to have committed suicide. Why now, 10 years later. Her Father was acting strange just before his death. There are multiple murders in this book with plenty of suspects. There is also a romance, altho I wasn’t wild about the romance aspect. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Longer than it needed to be. Predictable and a lot of characters to keep track of. Lots of drama for a small town with a couple of families. No real surprises. Plot and characters were just ok. From the description, I thought the story would be better.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good mystery!

[Tambra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun,fresh new story to read about. Good story and characters. Loved it.

[Kayla Wiklanski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick pleasant read. I thought I had it all figured out in less than 70 pages. I was way wrong. I didn't see the ending coming.

[DJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this author but it is my least favorite of hers so far. It didn't have the "oomph" of the other ones I read.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spent a day reading this and mostly found it engrossing. The ending was a bit too drawn out though.

[Miriam Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a serial killer loose in Parrish Ohio (an imaginary town that lies on the Ohio River across from West Virginia.

A string of murders stretching back 10 years and now three murders and a kidnapping within a week. What’s going on?

The story is intense and not too graphic (murder-wise). The dialogue gets a little confusing. The ending wraps up like a closed room mystery and then an exciting chase scene. Sadly, this one needed another copy edit for word usage and continuity.

Will I read more by this author? Maybe.

For a longer review, see the Ohioans Library Associate Newsletter http://www.ohioana.org

[Collette Mcgaahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a good story that this book almost tells but unfortunately goes off on an odd tangent. It would have made more sense to concentrate on the death of the brother Finn instead of going back to the scene 9 years later. I almost gave up reading in the prologue when on one short winter walk the character sees a squirrel, an owl and a mouse. Goodness what a nature stroll that turned out to be.