Death in a Cold Climate

By Robert Barnard

A classic murder mysteryfrom award winning crime writer, Robert Barnard

It was midday on December 21st in the Norwegian city of Tromsø when the boy was last seen – a tall, blond boy swathed in an anorak and scarf against the Arctic noon. He was not seen again, not until three months later, when Professor Mackenzie’s dog started sniffing around in the snow and uncovered a human ear . . . attached to a naked corpse.

Nobody knew who he was, or where he had come from. And after three months it was almost impossible to track down the identity of the corpse. But Inspector Fagermo refused to give up – and as he probed deeper into the Arctic city he began to discover a dangerous conspiracy of blackmail, espionage, and cold-blooded murder.

Regarded as Robert Barnard's best, Death in a Cold Climate is a scandi detective novel with a captivating mystery at its heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Nov 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781447240730

Robert Barnard

Robert Barnard (1936-2013) was awarded the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Nero Wolfe Award, as well as the Agatha and Macavity awards. An eight-time Edgar nominee, he was a member of Britain's distinguished Detection Club, and, in May 2003, he received the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for lifetime achievement in mystery writing. 

Reviews for Death in a Cold Climate

[nx74defiant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good murder mystery. A dead body is found. Who was the victim? Why would someone want to kill him? The reveal came as a surprise to me.

[adonisguilfoyle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I came across this book by happy chance, and will definitely be reading more by Robert Barnard. Set in Norway, which I'd also love to learn more about, Inspector Fagermo finds himself investigating the life of an English stranger whose body is discovered in a snowbank by a man out walking his dog. Why was the man in Tromso, and who there knew enough about him to want him dead? I love the classic, Christie style of the writing, and the humour of Inspector Fagermo, serving a small town full of foreigners and academics. The mystery was strong enough to keep me reading, even while Fagermo's slow but sure methods of detective work held the pace at an amble. Thanks for the random search results, Amazon!

[annbury_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Did Barnard foreshadow all that Nordic noir? Or did it just not get translated -- Anyway, this eminently readable police procedural is set in Norway, and drips with the dark, brooding atmosphere with which we've grown so familiar.

[tzelman_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Who was that corpse hidden under the snow? Good buildup, anticlimactic ending. Not as good as LITERARY WIDOW.