{"id":3897,"date":"2020-11-30T11:57:18","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T19:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/?p=3897"},"modified":"2020-11-30T11:57:18","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T19:57:18","slug":"paige-shelton-cold-wind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/paige-shelton-cold-wind\/","title":{"rendered":"Paige Shelton: Cold Wind"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This is the second book in Paige Shelton\u2019s series about thriller writer Elizabeth Fairchild, now in hiding in tiny Benedict, Alaska as Beth Rivers, after being kidnapped by a crazed fan.\u00a0 Elizabeth\/Beth lives in a halfway house and appreciates the privacy she finds in the Alaskan wild, a place that truly seems to be its own country, existing without a real nod to the rules and regulations more common in the lower 48.\u00a0 Shelton, the author of four other cozier series than this one, is a real pro at narrative, pacing, and character.\u00a0 These skills easily transfer to this series which is a bit darker in tone, and fits in more with work by writers like Ellen Hart, Dana Stabenow and Julia Spencer-Fleming.<\/p>\n

Beth is the \u201ceditor\u201d of the tiny local paper, working out of a shack where she is able to filch wi-fi from the local library.\u00a0 While she does put a paper together she also uses the office to continue writing her novels, though no one in town knows what she\u2019s up to, though several, including the librarian, Orin, guess that there\u2019s plenty she\u2019s not telling.\u00a0 In Alaska, though, no one pries into another\u2019s business \u2013 except, of course, Beth.<\/p>\n

Beth suffers from PTSD and bears a scar on her head from her kidnapping, a scar which gives her pain and keeps her in close contact with the local doctor.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t hurt for her to live in the local halfway house where she\u2019s watched over a bit by its proprietor, the gruff and observant Viola.\u00a0 As the book opens, Viola has taken on a new resident, a recovering addict named Ellen.\u00a0 When Ellen arrives, she\u2019s in full withdrawal mode and is exceedingly hostile, to the point of being a little dangerous.<\/p>\n

The element which truly kicks off this fast paced story is a mudslide, a mudslide which uncovers some hidden secrets (including a body) and finds two girls, covered in mud and unable to speak, at Beth\u2019s office door.\u00a0 She takes them to the authorities where they are cared for until their father is found.\u00a0 He takes them back home, but Beth has bonded with the two girls and can\u2019t seem to let them go.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the mudslide has uncovered a frozen body in a shed near the home of the owner of \u201cthe mercantile,\u201d Randy.\u00a0 Because Beth has been helpful on an investigation in the first book (Thin Ice<\/em>) and because she has bonded with the two mysterious girls, she\u2019s allowed along on some of the official investigation and makes some more discoveries on her own.<\/p>\n

The story, the setting, and the characters all unfold organically and naturally into one another as the mudslide reveals more and more secrets about some of the residents of Benedict.\u00a0 Shelton is an incredibly vivid and gifted story teller, and I was totally drawn into both Beth\u2019s investigation and the mystery as well as her ongoing fear of her kidnapper (who has not been caught) and the personal and psychological ramifications that has for her.<\/p>\n

I was fascinated by the way people in Alaska accept many things, not least of all the weather, which is a factor in several white knuckle driving episodes in the book.\u00a0 It turned out to be Shelton\u2019s version of letting her character venture-into-a-dark-house on her own, despite reasonable warnings not to do so.\u00a0 It was believable, though, and since most of us have had a less extreme version of this driving-in-a-snowstorm experience, it’s very relatable.<\/p>\n

This book is a real standout.\u00a0 Shelton\u2019s storytelling skills are top notch and I was glued to my reading seat as I followed Beth\u2019s story.\u00a0 There\u2019s no doubt Beth is in for a long haul in Alaska, and I hope this series is in for a long haul as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the second book in Paige Shelton\u2019s series about thriller writer Elizabeth Fairchild, now in hiding in tiny Benedict, Alaska as Beth Rivers, after being kidnapped by a crazed fan.\u00a0 Elizabeth\/Beth lives in a halfway house and appreciates the privacy she finds in the Alaskan wild, a place that truly seems to be its … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[473,5,474,371,100,472,475],"class_list":["post-3897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-alaska","tag-americancozy","tag-cold-wind","tag-journalists","tag-minotaur-books","tag-paige-shelton","tag-snowstorm-driving"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3897"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3898,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3897\/revisions\/3898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}