Dead of Winter (Five Star Mystery Series) (Five Star First Edition Mystery) [Hardcover]

Don D'Ammassa (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Having survived a nightmarish marriage that ended in tragedy, 23-year-old Laura Collier Brennan comes home to the small, wintery town of Dorrance, N.Y., in D'Ammassa's contrived second thriller (after 2004's Murder in Silverplate). But the family farm run by Laura's manipulative, dominating mother, Mary, is no refuge, so much to Mary's displeasure, Laura moves into a small cabin she inherited from her aunt. Just as stubborn as her mother, plucky Laura is hungry for a new beginning: she tries odd jobs, begins dating again and enjoys her independence until she becomes the object of a relentless stalker. D'Ammassa slowly reveals the truth behind Laura's father's abandonment long ago and the end of Laura's marriage as the snowed-in—but not so isolated—cabin grows more dangerous. Her best friend disappears and dead bodies start turning up in Laura's home until the climax's over-the-top revelations. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 303 pages
• Publisher: Five Star (ME) (January 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594144958
• ISBN-13: 978-1594144950
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,788,460 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Don D'Ammassa was born in 1946 and was reading adult fiction by age six. He has been accumulating books ever since and his library is now approaching 60,000 volumes. He began reviewing science fiction and fantasy in the 1960s and sold his first novel, Blood Beast, in 1988. Since then he has sold well over one hundred stories, six more novels, and three reference books. He currrently lives in Rhode Island.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars exhilarating thriller, February 3, 2007

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead of Winter (Five Star Mystery Series) (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

Her marriage proved a disaster as her husband turned into a chameleon after they exchanged I do; so when Sean Brennan died, Laura Collier did not mourn her loss. Instead she leaves Vermont to return to her hometown of Dorrance. Her bossy mother Mary expects her to return to her farm, but Laura refuses having had enough clashes with her iron-willed mom in the past. Instead she takes residence in the family log cabin upsetting mom who keeps the pressure up for her to come home.

Meanwhile someone stalks Laura and goes so far as trying to shoot her in the dark. Her only friend in town Ashley Sothern, who welcomed her home, vanishes. While Officer Dan Sievert is attracted to Laura and her to him, he does not believe her tale of someone wanting her dead so she investigates her past starting with the abandonment of her father years ago and the present vanishing of Ashley on her own.

DEAD OF WINTER is an exhilarating thriller that slowly introduces the audience to the beleaguered heroine and her steel magnolia mom while painting a clear picture of the remoteness of the town. As the action begins to pick up relatively early, readers begin to learn more about why her father vanished without even a goodbye especially tied together with the shocking twisting, but over the top Everest climax. Fans of women in peril from unknown predators will enjoy Don D'Ammassa's entertaining thriller even with an unbelievable ending.

Harriet Klausner