"The Coldest Case"

Tessa Wegert is the author of the popular Shana Merchant mysteries, which include Death in the Family, The Dead Season, Dead Wind, The Kind to Kill, Devils at the Door, and The Coldest Case, along with the upcoming North Country thriller series. Her books have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Shelf Awareness and have been featured on PBS and NPR Radio. A former journalist and copywriter, Wegert grew up in Quebec and now lives with her husband and children in Connecticut, where she co-founded Sisters in Crime CT and serves on the board of International Thriller Writers (ITW).

Wegert applied the Page 69 Test to The Coldest Case and reported the following:

From page 69:

The place felt dystopian, ice-encrusted land and water stretching for miles in all directions and just a handful of humans living off frozen chops and gutted fish. Overwintering had an air of survivalist living. Personally, I favored a neighborhood to the idea of a remote home that was cut off from critical services like snow removal and first aid. Running Pine in winter was seclusion to the extreme. Beyond the Wall, just like Tim had said, and something about it was making him edgy.

“Could be the isolation,” I offered.

“Could be the people,” said Tim.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a passage that provides a better sense of The Coldest Case. In the novel, eight people are overwintering on a remote island that sits on the border between New York State and Ontario, Canada. Two of those people are young Instagram influencers who’ve created an account documenting their year of living on Running Pine…and they’re in way over their heads. By the time we reach page 69, one of the influencers has gone missing, and BCI Senior Investigator Shana Merchant is discussing the case with her colleague Tim Wellington. It’s no secret that the influencers weren’t welcomed to the island with open arms, and now that one is unaccounted for, Shana and Tim have to ask: Was it Cary’s own inexperience with wilderness living that led to his disappearance, or could one of the long-time local residents be to blame?

Visit Tessa Wegert's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Dead Season.

The Page 69 Test: The Dead Season.

Q&A with Tessa Wegert.

The Page 69 Test: Dead Wind.

Writers Read: Tessa Wegert (April 2022).

Writers Read: Tessa Wegert (December 2022).

The Page 69 Test: Devils at the Door.

--Marshal Zeringue