28 January 2024

Review: A WINTER GRAVE, Peter May

  • This edition published Quercus 2023
  • ISBN 978-1-52942-849-0
  • 357 pages

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

A TOMB OF ICE

A young meteorologist checking a mountain top weather station in Kinlochleven discovers the body of a missing man entombed in ice.

A DYING DETECTIVE

Cameron Brodie, a Glasgow detective, sets out on a hazardous journey to the isolated and ice-bound village. He has his own reasons for wanting to investigate a murder case so far from his beat.

AN AGONIZING RECKONING

Brodie must face up to the ghosts of his past and to a killer determined to bury forever the chilling secret that his investigation threatens to expose.

Set against a backdrop of a frighteningly plausible near-future, A WINTER GRAVE is Peter May at his page-turning, passionate and provocative best. 

My Take

Set in November 2051, this novel is not only a murder mystery, but portrays a future affected by global warming after the major powers have failed to meet targets back at the beginning of the century. The world has changed drastically with countries near the equator becoming too hot to live in, sea levels having risen, and the northern hemisphere has entered a new Ice Age.

The body of an investigative reporter has been found entombed in ice near a nuclear power station which supplies all the power for Scotland. It is just days out from a national election in which it is expected that the ruling party will be returned. 

A Glasgow detective, Cameron Brodie, has recently received the worst news from his medical specialist, and decides to undertake this investigation which may very well be his last hurrah. He also has some unfinished business which he hopes the journey north will enable him to complete.

This novel has a nicely balanced story, set against this futuristic scenario, where unmanned drones fly people to destinations.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My rating: 4.6 

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