Published: Dec. 19, 2010
Words: 33,841 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781458136275

Short description

It's hard to beat being thrown in an out-of-state jail on a trumped up charge as a Christmas present, but detective Clarke Lantham loves a challenge. So when he calls up his brother for help with bail, he thinks he's prepared for the ordeal of spending a holiday weekend with relatives who put the "strange" back in "estranged." That was his first mistake.

Extended description

It's hard to beat being thrown in an out-of-state jail on a trumped up charge as a Christmas present, but detective Clarke Lantham loves a challenge. So when he calls up his brother for help with bail, he thinks he's prepared for the ordeal of spending a holiday weekend with relatives who put the "strange" back in "estranged."
That was his first mistake. Unfortunately, with an old client gumming up the works, a ten-year-old niece with a ghost problem, and the occasional murder competing for his attention, it's unlikely to be his last--especially when he only has two days to clear his name before he gets thrown back in the slammer.

Tags

murder, mystery, family, christmas, violence, ice, seattle, court, haunting, puzzle, ghost, cop, noir, intrigue, dark humor, snow, love triangle, traffic, blackmail, jurisprudence, black humor, tacoma, cozy, police corruption, derivatives, hallucination, accident, insider trading, sec, illusion, neanderthal, car crash, snark, aston martin, freezing weather, precision driving, doj, french maid, seatac, laser tag, ivory soap, black ice

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Reviews

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Review by: Candy Beauchamp on July 18, 2012 :
I grabbed this one to read while sitting in a waiting room and looking for something light and quick to read. Wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into, but since it's July in Austin, I thought anything that might have snow in it would be a welcome reprieve from the heat.

What a fun and well told story by Mr. Sawyer! It delivered on what I expected and was so much more. This was my first book starring Lantham and I'll be looking for others for certain. This is a true whodunit mystery/thriller told by a private detective who gets himself into way more hot water than he intended. The writing was very well done, it wasn't overly descriptive and didn't bog down in places. It was a delightful story of family, drama, mystery with little bits of humor thrown in for good measure.

The editing was well done, I didn't see anything in there that made me want to cringe. It was long enough to take me a few sittings to read through, but not too long to drag out. For the story it told, I think the length was absolutely perfect.

This book is recommended for thriller/mystery fans and folks looking for something light to read. Well done.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Candy Beauchamp on July 18, 2012 :
I grabbed this one to read while sitting in a waiting room and looking for something light and quick to read. Wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into, but since it's July in Austin, I thought anything that might have snow in it would be a welcome reprieve from the heat.

What a fun and well told story by Mr. Sawyer! It delivered on what I expected and was so much more. This was my first book starring Lantham and I'll be looking for others for certain. This is a true whodunit mystery/thriller told by a private detective who gets himself into way more hot water than he intended. The writing was very well done, it wasn't overly descriptive and didn't bog down in places. It was a delightful story of family, drama, mystery with little bits of humor thrown in for good measure.

The editing was well done, I didn't see anything in there that made me want to cringe. It was long enough to take me a few sittings to read through, but not too long to drag out. For the story it told, I think the length was absolutely perfect.

This book is recommended for thriller/mystery fans and folks looking for something light to read. Well done.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Lucie Le Blanc on Dec. 29, 2011 :
Once I began reading, I couldn't stop myself. That was my first incursion in the Clarke Lantham universe. And it won't be my last. The story and the storytelling were brilliantly done. The way Mr Sawyer plays with words is delightful even, or because, it is somber. ;)
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Scott Roche on Dec. 30, 2010 :
This is as noir as the previous entry, so if you like it, you’ll like this. This one is a bit more fun than the first, though no less dark or edgy. I read it all in one sitting and it kept me going until a quarter to one in the morning. If that’s not enough to push you in the direction of buying this, then let me see what I can do to nudge you along. In addition to being a modern noir, this is also a classic murder mystery with a twist. He makes a number of nods to Agatha Christie and/or Sir Doyle, but as with the classic noir of “And Then She Was Gone”, he adds modern sensibilities.

Dan takes the time to walk his readers through the processes Clarke uses to solve the crime, though never at the expense of pacing. There’s a dash of action, a dollop of sex (handled with humor and taste), and more than one laugh out loud moment. The only thing that really hurt the story for me were a few sections of prose early on that I had to re-read a time or two for clarity. I think $2.99 for a story that comes in at over thirty thousand words and provided me with a few hours of pure entertainment is money well spent. I give this story four and a half out of five bloody icicles.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Talia Farrow on Dec. 28, 2010 :
I read this book this morning. It would have been in one sitting but I had to force myself to put it down to get food. It pained me to have to stop reading even if only for a few moments. Like the first Lantham tale, "And Then She Was Gone", the story goes from zero to hold-on-for-your-life in mere sentences and never slows down or looks back.

Unlike the first Lantham mystery, where ex-cop turned PI Clarke Lantham has to figure out who the players are, in this tale all but one of the possible suspects are well known to him. When families (especially estranged ones) and the holidays are combined the resulting tension is enough to make most people want someone dead. Leave it to Lantham's family to actually follow through.

Lantham is stranded out of town due to a winter storm. He must clear his own name and figure out who the murderer is while waiting out a trip to traffic court. If he can accomplish all of that (and avoid being thrown back in jail) then maybe he can finally fly home.

It was a wild and humorous ride that I would take again in an instant. I plan on reading it again now that I know who did what to see if I could have spotted the killer sooner without Lantham's help.

I laughed out loud at the ending and am eagerly awaiting the next book in this series.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

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