Angels in the Snow: An utterly gripping crime thriller with a nail-biting twist (Detective Jo Fournier Book 8)
M.M. Chouinard
378 pages
Bookouture
published November 8, 2023
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About the book
Her fingers numb with cold, Jo rushes to search for footprints in the empty parking lot before they are covered in snow. Her cousin and her little daughter never came home tonight and she is desperate to find them. With temperatures dropping, no-one can survive outside for long…
When Detective Jo Fournier’s cousin goes missing with her sweet five-year-old Alexia, Jo heads straight to where they were last seen. Her heart stops when she finds their unlocked car—one door has been left open and Alexia’s beloved teddy is lying in the snow. Jo’s blood runs cold as she realizes her family have been kidnapped…
Even as she swears to bring them home, Jo makes a discovery that chills her to the bone: other young, single mothers have vanished with their little daughters just before Christmas.
As Jo’s team re-open the cold cases, they make a terrible discovery. Buried deep under the snow in the forest near Oakhurst are the bones of a mother and daughter who disappeared. The snowy grave contains a little angel, the kind you would hang on a Christmas tree.
With no sign of her cousin and little Alexia, Jo is sure that they are in the hands of a twisted serial killer and running out of time. Discovering suspicious activity in the security footage from the day her cousins were taken gives Jo the clue she’s been desperately searching for. Can Jo bring her family home safe, or has the killer lured her into a terrifying trap?
From USA Today bestseller M.M. Chouinard, Angels in the Snow is a totally nail-biting serial killer thriller, the perfect read for a cold winter night! Addictive reading for fans of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Gregg Olsen.
My Review
I always love reading about Jo solving cases. But I should warn this one was a little difficult to read at times. Please check for trigger warnings if you have any.
This one is personal for Jo, when her cousin and her daughter go missing. There are multiple POVs including one from the bad guy. Those chapters are very conversational and include what has happened in their past to get to where they are today and their side of the story.
The pace started out slow and steady and then ramped up in intensity by the end. There is a little less balance between work and home life for Jo in this one, but there is a deeply personal moment between Jo and Matt and a little of the family’s reaction to the missing cousin. And the story ends with a bittersweet moment.
And definitely make sure to read the author’s letter at the end of the story, but only after you’ve finished as it contains spoilers. But it does go into some of the psychology of the book. It really added to my appreciation of the plot.
If you are looking for a great police procedural that occurs during the holidays, look no further. While this is book 8 in the series, it can be read as a stand alone, but I’d like to mention how great the series and the character development is over the course of all the books and you won’t be disappointed in reading them all.
About the author
M.M. Chouinard’s first fiction story was published in her local paper when she was eight, and she fell in love with Agatha Christie novels not long after. While pursuing a Ph.D in psychology and helping to found the first U.S. research university of the new millenium, the stories kept rattling around inside her skull, demanding to come out. For sanity’s sake, she released them. She’s currently at work on her next novel.
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