Spend Christmas Trapped on an Isolated Island with a Killer

Alice Fitzpatrick’s New Mystery Delivers Classic Christie Tension

This book is available worldwide in eBook and paperback formats.

Family Secrets, Holiday Lies, and a Killer on the Loose — A Cruel Cold Arrives

An intriguing mystery which explores how childhood lies can compel someone to seek revenge for a lifetime of deception and betrayal.

Christmas is only a few days away, and Kate Galway has been looking forward to spending some mother-daughter time with her barrister daughter, Alex, on the isolated Welsh island where Kate grew up. But Kate is forced to adjust her plans when Alex arrives accompanied by her father, Detective Chief Inspector James Hewitt, Kate’s ex-husband. The island’s matriarch, Sophie Sutherland, is eager to reunite with her old beau, Teddy Bartell, who shows up with an entourage of relations, including his son, the son’s abrasive second wife, and her twin brother. Everyone joins in the Christmas celebrations at the pub, but the party comes to an abrupt end when someone ingests a lethal dose of cyanide. A winter storm has shut down access to the mainland, trapping the killer on the island. With no forensics and minimal support from the mainland police, Kate, James, and Alex must rely on old-fashioned detective work to track down the murderer before they strike again.

For fans of Agatha Christie’s isolated settings mysteries, A Cruel Cold and a hot cup of tea is the perfect way to spend an evening.

A Cruel Cold (The Meredith Island Mysteries): Fitzpatrick, Alice: 9781067865702: Amazon.com: Books

Intriguing plot, interesting characters, and a location I’d like to visit. I look forward to more exploits of the Meredith Island gang.

MORE FROM ALICE’S MEREDITH ISLAND MYSTERY SERIES

ABOUT ALICE FITZPATRICK

Alice Fitzpatrick has contributed short stories to literary magazines and anthologies, including the Crime Writers of Canada 40th anniversary anthology, Cold Canadian Crime. She is a fearless champion of singing, cats, all things Welsh, and the Oxford comma. Her summers spent with her Welsh family in Pembrokeshire inspired the creation of the Meredith Island Mysteries which include Secrets in the Water and A Dark Death (finalist for the 2026 Crime Writers of Canada award for Best Traditional Mystery). Alice’s latest book, A Cruel Cold, is an homage to Agatha Christie. The traditional mystery appeals to her fascination with what makes seemingly ordinary people commit murder. Alice lives in Toronto but dreams of a cottage on the Welsh coast.