𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑾𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑵𝒐𝒘! 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑱𝒐𝒏 𝑻𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆.
Deep Freeze, a novel by Anne Louise O’Connell
I read the last chapter of Deep Freeze in the hospital emergency room, which was a perfect location to finish this fun and feisty cosy mystery. Cosy in the sense that (per Wikipedia) it’s a “a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur offstage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small socially-intimate community.”
Deep Freeze opens with a shocking incident at Dubai’s famous indoor ski hill. I had heard about this snow-in-the-desert before and loved experiencing it through the eyes and skis of Susan Morris, our amateur sleuth. Halifax-based author (and publisher) Anne Lousie O’Connell lived in Dubai and the locations leap off the page with authentic first-hand experience, giving me a sense of what it would be like as a Westerner living in the UAE.
Bad things keep happening, and our heroine never takes the easy route of looking away. A man is attacked in hospital. A home is broken into. A Sri Lankan maid goes missing. Susan, with no special powers but curiosity and compassion, dives into the mystery to try and save the missing maid – and a lot of other vulnerable women. The strong female characters were one of the most enjoyable parts of the book. Public images of the UAE tend to focus on men, so it was a treat to go inside homes and minds of local women, Westerners, and the other international women who come to the UAE for work (there is your small, socially intimate community). This book aces the Bechdel test!
It’s the second book in O’Connell’s Deep Mysteries (Deep Deceit, 2016), but it was the first one I read. I also read Louise Penny’s Three Pines books in the order the library sent them to me, and I found here, too, each O’Connell book pulls you deeper into the world, but I don’t think you need to read them in order.
Deep Freeze is a great summer read, so buy a copy and throw it in your bag, or get it on your phone so it’s always with you – even in the emergency room! (kidney stone, horrific pain, wonderful medical staff, full recovery.)