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This is Parrishıs second novel featuring mixed race police officer Louis Kincaid (white father, African-American mother), who has left the small town Mississippi police force he was working for in DARK OF THE MOON, and moved back north to Michigan. Louis is a complex man in his mid-twenties, attractive and in-shape, yet tormented by the memories of his youth being shuttled about from different foster homes because his mother was a drug addicted prostitute. He also has problems dealing with his multi-racial makeup; but these problems are primarily dealing with racism from others. The book opens with him applying for a job with the police department of Loon Lake, a small resort community in upstate Michigan. Much to his surprise, he is given the job, only to discover that the man he is replacing was brutally murdered by a shotgun blast fired at short range. Shortly after his relocation to Loon Lake, another body is found beneath the frozen ice of the lakea retired cop from the Loon Lake department, killed almost exactly the same way as the other cop. Someone with a grudge against the department is picking them off one by one. Louis is assigned to find the killer as quickly as possible. Just like in the first book, Louis has a young, almost simple minded but still likable partner. As they investigate these murders, it soon becomes apparent to Louis that the killerıs motivation lies in a past incident involving the department, and what could have been a cover-up. Parrish is a master at building suspense, and plotting, but his true strength lies in character. Louis is a gem: flawed but decent, determined to do the right thing no matter the personal consequences. The other characters are not given short shrift either: the police chief who quotes Emerson and Baudelaire; the young partner who is not too quick on the uptake but has a temper he has trouble controlling; and of course, Zoe, the jogging artist who becomes a love interest for Louis. DEAD OF WINTER is a fine novel, with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing as to the final outcome
Reviewed by Greg Herren, November 2002
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