Cold Girl

February 15, 2016
An uneasily matched police team searches for a young singer who's disappeared in a remote region of British Columbia. DC Dave Leith of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has been tracking a serial killer for two years. But he's not sure that following his boss's orders and traveling four hours northeast to the rural community of the Hazletons is going to give him the break he's been looking for in his search for the Pickup Killer. The missing person is Kiera Rilkoff, the 22-year-old Rockabilly Princess, whose band, Fling, has such a following in western Canada that they've made a CD and even acquired a manager. Although Leith doubts that the man he seeks would have abducted Fling's lead vocalist, he's not about to turn down the assignment, especially since it could be a steppingstone to a better job. But the Hazletons turn out to be even bleaker than he thought, and his dogged best isn't enough as he toils to discover what made Kiera walk out, coatless, in the middle of a rehearsal in the middle of winter; why her abandoned vehicle was found near a trailhead on Kispiox Mountain; whether she was on her way to meet her boyfriend/band mate's older brother at his logging camp; and whether a highly questionable tip can actually lead to the Pickup Killer. A wrecked crime scene and a bristly local sergeant don't make Leith's job easier. Nor does Constable Dion, a temporary cop who can't even work a tape recorder or take legible interview notes. Dion has his own perspective and his own narrative, however, and, like so many of the other people who've gathered in the Hazletons, he isn't exactly what he seems. And every time Leith thinks he's getting to the truth, he's still one step behind. Greenaway brings a keen understanding of love, loyalty, frailty, and greed to her multilayered series debut.

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March 15, 2016
This debut mystery features a mismatched pair of police detectives. Leith is a small-town man on assignment in New Hazelton, B.C., where a local girl has gone missing. Dion is a big-city guy, also a detective but recently demoted to constable and reassigned to the Hazeltons (the collective name for a group of villages in remote B.C.). The two men clash during their investigationdifferent techniques, different temperaments, different sensibilitiesbut eventually they forge professional and personal bonds. The author, who has lived in the Hazeltons area, brings a laudable level of realism to the story; the plot is suspenseful and dramatic; and the odd-couple stars are thoroughly engaging. A series to watch.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)