Review by Booklist Review
Inspector Agnes Lüthi is anxious to show her worth when she's transferred from financial crimes to violent crimes in Lausanne, Switzerland, after her husband dies. So she ignores weather warnings and admonitions from her mother-in-law, who's caring for Lüthi's three sons, and answers the call when a young woman's body is discovered on the grounds of the majestic Château Vallotton during an epic ice storm. Felicity Cowell, a London auction-house employee preparing an inventory of the château's art and historical pieces, is found stabbed, with her body frozen to the ground, while the storm strands the few officials who risk reaching the crime scene and prohibits others from arriving. So Lüthi is trapped, along with the residents and staff of the estate and probably the killer, too and, lacking electricity or communication with the outside world, she works with her former boss and learns his shocking revelation about her husband's suicide. Debut-novelist de Hahn creates a world in which time seems suspended, and only the bone-chilling cold is constant. The Swiss American Lüthi is an intriguing protagonist whom international-mystery readers will want to meet again.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Police detective Agnes Lüthi tackles her first homicide case in de Hahn's absorbing debut. Felicity Cowell, a British art assessor with a sordid past, has been killed at an elegant lakeside estate near Lausanne, Switzerland. When a blizzard descends, Agnes and other investigators become trapped at Château Vallotton with the aristocratic Vallotton family, their guests and servants, as well as an elderly neighbor, the charming Vladimir Arsov, who fought with the French Resistance during WWII. De Hahn sets up a locked-room mystery with potential for rich interpersonal tensions. The rarefied, restrictive world of Swiss aristocracy provides a tantalizing backdrop, and Agnes-born to American parents, raised in Switzerland, and a widowed mother of three sons after her husband's recent suicide-is a strong series lead. Coincidences abound, but those who like a fireside read on a winter night will be pleased. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch Literary Services. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In this Switzerland-set debut, a Swiss American police detective, stuck in a picturesque château on the shore of Lake Geneva, grapples with her first homicide and the worst blizzard in recent memory. Det. Agnes Lüthi transferred from Lausanne's Financial Crimes Unit to Violent Crimes in an effort to take her mind off the recent death of her husband. Now she's called out to her first murder scene, the stabbing death of a young London art appraiser who's been evaluating the impressive collection at the equally impressive Château Vallotton. As a terrible snowstorm approaches, Lüthi -attempts to squeeze answers from the house's -tight-lipped occupants, including the loyal servants, as well as several other potential witnesses-or suspects. VERDICT This clever take on the locked-room mystery-a locked château, if you will-introduces readers to an appealing heroine in an unusual setting in what will hopefully be a long series. © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
