A Cold White Sun

By Vicki Delany

2019 recipient of the Derrick Murdoch award from the Crime Writers of Canada

It's the end of March and Trafalgar, British Columbia, is preparing for the last influx of the seasonal skiers. Teachers, parents, and students are preparing to relax at home or head off on vacation. But for high school English teacher Cathy Lindsay, the week of relaxation doesn't work out as planned. She's gunned down by a sniper on a hiking trail, her small dog the only witness.

Cathy Lindsay is an unlikely candidate for a murderous ambush: she was a respected teacher, in an apparently solid marriage to an Internet developer, living a quiet life. Sergeant John Winters, with the help of young Constable Molly Smith, digs into the Lindsay marriage and friendships, searching for a motive, but one thought continually niggles at the back of his mind: is it possible this was not a random killing but a case of mistaken identity?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Release date: Aug 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781615954643

Vicki Delany

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the United States. She has written more than 30 books: from clever cozies to Gothic thrillers, gritty police procedurals to historical fiction and seven novellas in the Rapid Reads line. She writes the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year Round Christmas mysteries and under the pen name of Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library series. Vicki is the past president of Crime Writers of Canada. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, Bony Blithe, Golden Oak, and Arthur Ellis Awards. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

Reviews for A Cold White Sun

[olivermagnus · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the sixth book of the Constable Molly Smith series, set in Trafalgar, British Columbia. Spring break has just started and high school English teacher, Cathy Lindsay, sets off for a morning walk with her dog. She never returns home and is later found dead on a walking trail, the victim of a shooter. She was a respected teacher in an apparently solid marriage. Constable Molly Smith is the first on the scene and calls her boss, Sergeant John Winters.

Before long, everyone on the police force, including Constable Molly, is needed to investigate the murder. It doesn't seem that Cathy was personally targeted, but does that mean that Trafalgar has a random killer and no one in town is safe? There are several others plots going on in parallel, one of an obsessive woman who thinks she's found the son she gave up for adoption decades ago, and one where Molly meets a handsome, charming man, one who’s as good a skier as she is.

I really like this series. I think the author does a great job at creating a very vivid and realistic small town, along with the many characters that populate Trafalgar. One of my favorites is Molly's mother, ex-hippie Lucky Smith, currently dating the Chief Constable. These mysteries combine the best of traditional village mysteries and police procedurals. They are definitely not cozy, but they're not gritty either. These don't need to be read in order, but the characters are better enjoyed the more you get to know them.

[liscarey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Constable Molly Smith, of Trafalgar, BC, is back, with a puzzling murder to solve.

Cathy Lindsey is a high school English teacher at the local high school, mother of a borderline juvenile delinquent teenage son, and a sweet ten-year-old girl. She also teaches creative writing at the local adult education center. Her marriage to her husband, Gord, is imperfect, a bit frayed at the edges, but not on the verge of breaking apart.

There's no obvious reason for her to be killed one sunny winter Saturday morning, by a skilled sniper who covers his tracks in a very professional manner.

Molly, currently just a patrolman but with ambitions to make detective someday, is the first officer on the scene, and in this small town and small police force, she remains involved on the edges of the investigation. Meanwhile, there are other odd or disturbing things going on in Trafalgar. Not least disturbing to Molly is that her mother, Lucky, is dating Chief Constable Paul Keller--and, most disturbing to Molly, probably having sex. Sargent John Winters' wife Eliza, owner of a local art gallery, is alarmed to discover her pleasant, sixty-something assistant, Margo Franklin, believes that a man who came into the gallery must be the son she was forced to give up at birth, never getting the chance even to hold him, when she was a scared, powerless pregnant teenager. She's so certain of it that she's following the man around and spooking him.

In Molly's own personal life, she's experiencing doubts about moving forward in her relationship with Adam Tocek, and has met an attractive, if slightly pushy, new man on the local ski slopes.

This is a story that runs on gossip and personality, character development and human understanding. It's more cozy than police procedural, despite Molly's profession.

It's a good, satisfying read. Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

[tututhefirst_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Constable Molly Smith becomes involved in assisting the homicide unit in solving the murder of a young teacher who was gunned down by a sniper while out on her normal walk early one morning. No witnesses, but some tracks, a few pieces of forensic evidence, and several suspects. There's a hapless husband, some hyper in-laws, two children left motherless, and the dog who was there when it happened. Was the victim stalking someone? Is that person the killer? Who else could possibly want her dead. She was a school teacher, a model mother, a young devoted wife. Or was she?While all this is happening, Molly begins questioning her own long-term relationship with a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police when she meets a handsome stranger on the ski slopes. Surely this handsome fellow can provide more excitement than she's been used to up to now.As with earlier books in this series, Vicki Delaney gives us good characters with motivations that drive the story, an excellent plot that produces many suspects but leaves us guessing until the end, and the exquisite setting of the Canadian ski slopes of British Columbia. A lover of mysteries can't ask for much more.

[sushicat-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A woman is shot on a forest trail while walking her dog in the early morning. Though everybody is scrutinized and secrets are unveiled that people would like to keep hidden, there is no motive strong enough for murder. Entry six in the Constable Molly Smith series takes us back to the small town of Trafalgar in B.C. and reconnects us with Molly, her family, her friends and the rest of the police force. The charm of these mysteries is less in the suspense than in the circle of characters and the sense of place.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When a teacher is gunned down on her jog through the park with her dog, Sgt. Winters, Constable Molly Smith, and all the others on the Trafalgar police force must sift through the evidence to find motive, means, and opportunity. They also know the perpetrator's gun skills are at the sniper level. The woman taught English at the high school and also a night class in creative writing at the local community college. There's her husband whose business sometimes takes him out of town. There's a teenage son who is known to the police for the bad company he keeps. There's a math teacher on whom the victim had a crush.Meanwhile in Trafalgar, Margo Franklin who works for Sgt. Winter's wife Eliza at the art gallery is acting oddly. As a teen, she birthed a son whom she was forced to give up for adoption. She's certain she's seen him in Trafalgar so she begins stalking him.On the relationship front, Molly's mom has begun seeing Molly's boss, Chief Constable Paul Keller. Molly begins to doubt her future with RCMP officer Adam Tocek. She meets a skilled skiier on Trafalgar's slopes who wants to see her. I won't give this part away, so you'll have to read it to see what happens.Molly seemed less involved in this case than many earlier ones although she was present at many of the crucial times. Still I love this series. I keep hoping Molly will be promoted and will become an official part of Winter's team. I guess that's asking too much in a town like Trafalgar?