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Detective Fiction, Crimes - Fiction, Police Stories
Freeze Frame (Enzo Files Series #4) by Peter May — book cover

Freeze Frame (Enzo Files Series #4)

by Peter May
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Overview

A promise made to a dying man leads forensics ace Enzo Macleod, a Scot who's been teaching in France for many years, to the study which the man's heir has preserved for nearly twenty years. The dead man left several clues there designed to reveal the killer's identity to the man's son, but ironically the son died soon after the father. So begins the fourth of seven cold cases written up in a bestselling book by Parisian journalist Roger Raffin that Enzo rashly boasted he could solve (he's been successful with the first three). It takes Enzo to a tiny island off the coast of Brittany in France, where he must confront the hostility of locals who have no desire to see the infamous murder back in the headlines. An attractive widow, a man charged but acquitted of the murder--but still the viable suspect, a crime scene frozen in time, a dangerous hell hole by the cliffs, and a collection of impenetrable messages, make this one of Enzo's most difficult cases.

Synopsis

A promise made to a dying man leads forensics ace Enzo Macleod, a Scot who's been teaching in France for many years, to the study which the man's heir has preserved for nearly twenty years. The dead man left several clues there designed to reveal the killer's identity to the man's son, but ironically the son died soon after the father. So begins the fourth of seven cold cases written up in a bestselling book by Parisian journalist Roger Raffin that Enzo rashly boasted he could solve (he's been successful with the first three). It takes Enzo to a tiny island off the coast of Brittany in France, where he must confront the hostility of locals who have no desire to see the infamous murder back in the headlines. An attractive widow, a man charged but acquitted of the murder—but still the viable suspect, a crime scene frozen in time, a dangerous hell hole by the cliffs, and a collection of impenetrable messages, make this one of Enzo's most difficult cases.

The New York Times - Marilyn Stasio

Although May obviously (and justifiably) prides himself on his grasp of the plot mechanics, something must be said for his vivid settings, which remove the story from the library and send it out into the wide, wide world.

About the Author, Peter May

Peter May won the Scottish Young Journalist of the Year Award at 21 and had his first novel published at 26. He went on to become a successful Scottish television dramatist. He lives in France with his wife Janice Halley.

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Editorials

Marilyn Stasio

Although May obviously (and justifiably) prides himself on his grasp of the plot mechanics, something must be said for his vivid settings, which remove the story from the library and send it out into the wide, wide world.
—The New York Times

Publishers Weekly

May’s excellent fourth Enzo McLeod mystery (after 2008’s Blacklight Blue) takes the Scottish forensics wizard, who impulsively bet his daughter’s boyfriend he could solve seven cold cases, to the Ile de Groix off the coast of Brittany, where he may finally meet his Waterloo. The quaint island is the site of the notorious 1990 slaying of tropical disease specialist and entomologist Adam Killian in his study. For two decades the crime scene—and the cryptic hints Killian supposedly left to identify his killer—have remained as undisturbed as an insect frozen in amber. Can Macleod, distracted by personal dramas that involve his sometime lover, Charlotte, and a menacing stalker, decipher the message—and stay in one piece? With its intricate plot, compelling characters, and bombshell denouement, this unsettling Enzo Files installment is a must-read. (Mar.)

Library Journal

Eighteen year ago, a man ordered his daughter-in-law to preserve his study as he had left clues to help his son to identify his killer. An hour later, the man is shot to death, and his son dies shortly thereafter. The police identify a local suspect but lose the case in court. Having boasted that he could solve seven cold cases written up in a best-selling book, forensic specialist Enzo Macleod travels to a small island off the Brittany coast to crack this fourth crime (after the cases solved in Extraordinary People, The Critic, and Blacklight Blue). VERDICT The author of the much acclaimed "China Thrillers" surpasses himself here in misdirection, placing clues in plain sight and leaving the reader anticipating the fifth entry in this outstanding series. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 11/1/09; large print: ISBN 978-1-59058-695-2.]

Book Details

Published
March 1, 2010
Publisher
Poisoned Pen Press
Pages
400
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781590587171

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