Winter's Dead

by Philip Warren

In the idyllic Borough of Foreston, Pennsylvania, nothing much should have happened on the bitter, winter's day--Detective Fletcher Strand's day off--but the body of a boy found in Wolf Creek involves him in a series of murders he could never have imagined. It's January 1990, and he and his partner, Joe Bentsen--both with the Pennsylvania State Police--have assigned and unassigned investigations given them by Lt. Walter Montgomery, putting them at odds with the Foreston Chief of Police and those whose secrets of the past, and of the present, lay buried just under the surface of everyday life. Join them as they wade into a deadly swamp society chose to ignore.

352 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 3, 2022

About the author

My first years were in western New York State, then in a small town near Cedar Point, Ohio, where I finished high school. One of the first in my family to go to college, I received my BS in History/Political Science from Xavier University in 1968, then enlisted in the US Army Security Agency as a linguist (Chinese Mandarin) and served nearly four years in the US and overseas.

My first real job after the Army was as an Investigator with the US Civil Service Commission, later the Office of Personnel Management, where I rose through the ranks to Chief of Investigations for a key division in the program. When privatization came along, I joined the new company, USIS, as VP of Operations, and rose to Chief Operating Officer of the large national security firm before retiring in early 2004.

Since, I've served on two college boards of trustees, numerous other non-profit boards, and have published four novels, two under Philip Warren, and my first two, Turnover and TurnAround under John P. Warren, both pen names springing from my birth name.

I doubt that I'll ever retire. A sequel to "Winter's Dead" with Fletcher Strand is in the works!

Reviews

[Margie Fenton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Winter's Dead is a detective story about murders with underlying themes of child abuse and family situations. Writing is far from the author's main occupation, and it shows. While I can't recommend this book, I give the author credit for producing a readable novel after a long career totally different from the subject matter here. I first became aware of the author when he posted pictures on Instagram of his Viking river cruise, then of his very fancy model railroad setup, then promoting his books. The book is set in western Pennsylvania, where he lives, which also interested me. I'm still not sure what the title means!

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off with openings of intriguing possible mysterious leads, quickly fell flat. So anticlimactic I’m thoroughly disappointed.