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This is the story of Erica Merrill, a new veterinarian struggling to build a small animal practice in the cold and closed community of Bolder, Idaho. The story might have correctly been labeled a cozy if it werenıt for all the slush and snow. The victim is a semi-recluse, known for his clean and healthy habits as well as his disdain for the logging industry. The prime suspect is a despicable neighbor, known far and wide for his bad habits of drinking, fighting, and not paying his bills. When the victim is discovered shot dead in his own home, and the prime suspect turns up out in the barn milking the victimıs cow, itıs pretty simple to put two and two together. However, when Dr. Merrill is called to treat the suspectıs dog and stumbles upon the scene she immediately feels the police have got the wrong man. Bolder, Idaho is a small backwoods community and in it the suspect has a well earned reputation as a trouble maker and a dead beat. He even owes money to young Dr. Merrill, who soon discovers it is not good business to side with the suspect. Being a veterinarian she also recognizes that the county prosecutor is a horseıs behind who sees a quick conviction as a way to enhance his law career. Gossip spreads that Dr. Merrill is paying the legal fees of the suspect, and soon her surgical assistant along with many of her best clients desert her. Undaunted, the young veterinarian decides she must get either all the way into the investigation or all the way out. Realizing she still has feelings for Deputy Clay Caldwell her old high school flame and currently the lead investigator in the crime, she opts in and begins a thorough and very clinical examination of all the clues. Erica Merrill is a wonderful character and Anne Barton has done a superb job describing her. Ms. Barton also describes the Idaho mountain country to a T. The only flaws in this work are the frequent long ³read again² sentences, lack of the occasional tag line, and the sometimes tedious back stories describing the families of the minor characters. The book could use some editing in this regard as the plot is slow to build and does not move along crisply. But high marks for the lucid portrayal of a modern practicing veterinarian. Single phrase or sentence: The stiff is already frozen and it's getting colder in Bolder. Note: The reviewer is author of the veterinary mystery/thrillers, CANIS - ISBN: 0-595-14703-8 and INDEX OF SUSPICION - ISBN: 0-595-20485-6
Reviewed by Robert E. Armstrong DVM, MS, August 2003
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