Cold Fire (A Grey and Villere Thriller)

by Matt Hilton

A mother and her children murdered.
A nanny on the run.
A killer in pursuit.

Hunted and reviled, ex-nanny Joanne Mason turns to her sister, Detective Karen Ratcliffe. Torn between duty and family, Ratcliffe asks Tess Grey and her partner Nicolas 'Po' Villere to bring Joanne in safely.

A winter cyclone forces Joanne into hiding on the Canadian border - but she can't stay put for long. In close pursuit, Tess and Po head north into the heart of a storm, but they're not the only ones: the real murderer is also hot on Joanne's trail, trying to kill the only living witness to his crime.

As the chase progresses it grows apparent that Joanne couldn't have been responsible for the murders . . . but the heat isn't off her. Some people think she might be a co-conspirator, not the terrified witness she is . . . and when the shocking truth behind the gruesome murders comes to light, Tess and Po have their work cut out to keep Joanne - and themselves - alive!

• ISBN10: 1448310512
• ISBN13: 9781448310517
• Publish Date: 2 May 2023
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
• Imprint: Severn House
• Edition: Main
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 240
• Language: English

Reviews

[Jeff Sexton]

An End, Once And For All? This is one hell of an action-packed thrill ride, with Tess, Po, and Pinky struggling as never before to figure out and then confront an enemy that may yet prove to be too powerful for even their considerable combined might. For the first time since I began reading this series (admittedly late in its run), Po and Pinky in particular have finally met an opponent who can best them - which produces even tighter and more visceral fighting sequences than the still-great "normal" for this series.

And then... that ending. Not a Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King ending at all - more like a Fallout one or the one at the end of the Mass Effect Original Trilogy (whose soundtrack song over this sequence provides the title of this review). And unlike Mass Effect 3 in particular (and more similar to the widely-regarded-as-best-single-game-in-the-franchise Mass Effect 2), the overall action of the book goes pretty well right up to the moment the "After" is triggered.

If this is truly the end, what a way to go out. And if these characters ever do get a chance to come back... what a way to leave it until that time. Very much recommended.