Cold, Cold Heart - Christine Poulson

Cold, Cold Heart by Christine Poulson

First Paragraph(s):

As Flora drove up the rutted track to the cottage, she thought for a moment that someone had switched on a light upstairs, but it was only the setting sun striking fire from a bedroom window.  She parked the svelte Porsche Panamera that had been Michael's wedding present.  It was still a new toy and she'd enjoyed the drive from Cambridge.  She got out of the car and shivered, pulled her coat around her.  The sun had gone down behind the little grove of pines that served as a windbreak.  It was the first time she'd been here alone and it occurred to her that another woman might have felt uneasy.  The nearest neighbour was a farmer a mile or two away across the fields.  But she wasn't the nervous type, and she was looking forward to having time to herself.
     She took the cat carrier from the car.  Marmaduke, her long-haired mackerel tabby, liked it here and could be trusted not to run away.  'Off you go, little tiger,' she said, as she let him out.  He snuffed the air, and set off with a purposeful air to patrol the garden.

My Thoughts:

Oh, I did enjoy this book - truly.  I read about it on someone's blog and I can't remember who recommended it - was it you?  Anyway, the setting is Antarctica for most of the book.  I love books set in Antarctica, though I know I will never, ever visit and really don't want to.  Too cold.  Cold, Cold Heart is actually the second book in Christine Poulson's series featuring Katie Flanagan.  Deep Water is the first book.  I'm sure I'll read it soon.  This book is actually a sort of 'locked room' tale, which I also love.  There are parts set in England where a woman goes missing, but most of the story tells of a murder in a remote scientific outpost of Antarctica - in the time period where the sun never rises - 24 hours of dark.  Katie and her colleagues are settled in, someone can't be found and then the body is discovered.  The murderer has to be one of the other people, but who?  The story also relates to a big discovery that might possibly be a cure for certain cancers.  There is a lot of info about what it might be like to be isolated for months on end and how there is still communication through email and other methods. 

I was able to meet this author at the Malice convention and I really enjoyed what she had to say about her research.  I'm hoping there will be another book in the series.  I liked Katie and want to follow her journey as a scientist.  This one is recommended!

Blurb:

Midwinter in Antarctica. Six months of darkness are about to begin. Scientist Katie Flanagan has an undeserved reputation as a trouble-maker and her career has foundered. When an accident creates an opening on a remote Antarctic research base she seizes it, flying in on the last plane before the subzero temperatures make it impossible to leave. Meanwhile patent lawyer Daniel Marchmont has been asked to undertake due diligence on a breakthrough cancer cure. But the key scientist is strangely elusive and Daniel uncovers a dark secret that leads to Antarctica. Out on the ice a storm is gathering. As the crew lock down the station they discover a body and realise that they are trapped with a killer…