By Steve Hamilton (St. Martin’s: 2001)

It’s winter again in Paradise, the town so far up in Michigan upper peninsula that it’s almost in Canada. Alex McKnight, the reluctant detective, gets embroiled in the kidnapping of a girl of Indian heritage. She had been living with a brute named Bruckman who is every sort of bad guy, and she stole from him a very valuable bag of illicit drugs. Alex befriended the girl and let her stay in one of the cabins he rents out to snowmobilers. The next day she was gone, and he was sure Bruckman was behind it. But things aren’t as they seem, and McKnight has a lot of cold, cold misadventures to get through before he finds the girl, the bag, and the kingpin behind the whole thing.
Never on good terms with most of local law enforcement, Alex manages to alienate the state cops as well. He obtains a “partner” in Leon Prudell, a most unlikely detective, albeit a nice guy, and whether Alex likes it or not, Leon sticks with him and eventually saves his life.
Reading the book when the temperature outside is 94° brings a kind satisfaction, although I don’t really want to be reminded that our own winter is only a few months away.