Just as a murderer dumps his corpse into the lake across Valley View in Lily Dale, Bella Jordan happens to be at her window, not quite realizing what she’s seeing. Unbeknownst to her, the killer spots her silhouette and prowls straight to her door. That is, until he’s interrupted by a black cat. A superstitious gambler, he takes off, but Bella’s seen too much, and he vows to return.
Jiffy Arden, a neighborhood kid looking for the black cat and stumbling across the killer, begins to have premonitions of being kidnapped during the season’s first snowstorm. Sure enough, when it strikes, he vanishes, never arriving home from the bus stop. While her son, Max, believes Jiffy has been kidnapped, Bella is convinced he’s just wandered off as he typically does … until a body shows up in the lake.
Now everyone is pulling out all the stops to find the missing child, identify the victim, and collar the killer. And fast, because he’s coming for Bella next in Dead of Winter.
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“Melanie Ewbank’s narration is mainly through Bella’s perspective, which is relatable and grounded in comparison to the quirky characters who otherwise inhabit the spiritually centered town of Lily Dale. The secondary characters are often narrated in a wry tone that adds to the humor even when the characters don’t quite realize how funny they are…Yet Ewbank avoids stereotypical readings of characters, with the hilarious exception of a shrill-yet-posh British accent for a larger-than-life medium named Pandora. Ewbank also doesn’t shy away from earnest emotion during the more dramatic moments.”
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Booklist (audio review)