Set in the icy heights of Colorado’s Cameron County, this deftly plotted mountain mystery from Bayly (Murder on Skis series) opens with an unforgettable tableau: a woman calmly slipping off her skis and helmet before stepping from a chairlift hundreds of feet in the air. The note in Loretta Sopris’s pocket suggests suicide, but its graceful wording and her deliberate movements leave room for darker possibilities. As Denver TV reporter JC Snow and his cameraman Bip Peters arrive to cover the story, a second riddle surfaces—the unexplained disappearance of county treasurer John Washburn, a Montaigne-quoting eccentric with a fondness for French cars and bookkeeping practices only he seems to understand. Their cases tangle like ski tracks in fresh powder as the reporters navigate a community where everyone knows everyone else and no one gives a straight answer.
Bayly brings Placer and The Craters Ski Resort vividly to life, from the thin air above ten thousand feet to the ghostly remains of old mining towns. Witty dialogue and sharply drawn characters—a genial sheriff, a grieving young wife, a ski bum with a criminal streak, a reclusive tech genius flashing an eighteen-thousand-dollar watch—add warmth and humor without blunting the menace. Small revelations accumulate with the patience of a seasoned investigator: a missing ledger entry, whispered “allowances,” a sister’s doubts about a suicide. The resolution is crisp and inevitable. Bayly balances suspense and sly comedy to create a taut, atmospheric thriller where human frailty proves as treacherous as any avalanche. A page-turner.
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