In Bitter Chill by Sarah Ward

Hardback: 354 pages                                                                                              
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Publisher: Faber and Faber 2015
Source: Tywyn Public Library
First Sentences: Prologue - Blade clanked on flint. Again. Causing the man to recoil.
Review Quote: 'The title suggests that this debut novel ought to be yet another example of Nordic Noir and, although it is set in rural Derbyshire, it does have a Scandinavian sensibility exerting its grip through strength of characterisation.' (Jake Kerridge, Sunday Express magazine)
My Opinion: This is a book I would never have read had it not been a book club choice. However I am glad I did as this novel is a well written and intriguing story with family history secrets as the theme.
Although not my favourite genre, the excellent character profiles and the twists and turns throughout the novel as the investigation unfolds kept me interested. The truth prevails in the end.


Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

In 1978, a small town in Derbyshire, England is traumatised by the kidnapping of two young schoolgirls. One girl, Rachel, is later found unharmed but unable to remember anything except that her abductor was a woman.

Over thirty years later the mother of the still missing Sophie commits suicide. Superintendent Llewellyn, who was a young constable on the 1978 case, asks DI Francis Sadler and DC Connie Childs to look again at the kidnapping to see if modern police methods can discover something that the original team missed. However, Sadler is convinced that a more recent event triggered Yvonne Jenkins’s suicide.

Rachel, with the help of her formidable mother and grandmother, recovered from the kidnapping and has become a family genealogist. She remembers nothing of the abduction and is concerned that, after Yvonne Jenkins’s suicide, the national media will be pursuing her for a story once more. Days later, the discovery of one of her former teachers’ strangled body suggested a chain of events is being unleashed.


Rachel and the police must unpick the clues to discover what really happened all those years ago. But in doing so, they discover that the darkest secrets can be the ones closest to you.



Author Profile:

I have been unable to find much biographical information online about Sarah Ward. If you are interested in learning more about her all I can suggest is that you visit her Author's Official Website

Sarah Ward is the author of In Bitter Chill, which was published in 2015 to critical acclaim and her second novel A Deadly Thaw which was published just a couple of months ago. On her blog, Crimepieces she reviews current crime fiction published around the world. She has written reviews for Euro Crime and CrimeSquad. She is also  a judge for the Petrona Award for Scandinavian translated crime novels. She lives in Derbyshire.



Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Sarah Ward - Amazon Page     Author's Official Website      Goodreads Profile

Twitter - Sarah Ward      Sarah Ward Crime - Facebook