Detective Josie Quinn is still recovering from the killing of a beloved member of her team when she and her husband Noah receive yet more devastating news. Close to her breaking point, Josie heads to a specialist trauma retreat,set in an isolated group of log cabins in the mountains of Pennsylvania. But fear is not far behind her. Josie’s five fellow patients all seem to be hiding secrets darker than just the problems that brought them there and a storm is gathering, with thick snow coming down fast, isolating the cabins from the world below.

Then one morning, Meg Cleary disappears. Having spent years living in terror of a stalker, Meg had come to the retreat to try to piece her life back together. But now, her cabin is empty, no logs are burning in her fireplace, no tracks in the snow lead to or from her door. Quickly organizing a search, Josie’s worst fear is realized when she finds Meg’s body lying in the snow, the marks around her neck revealing that her death was no accident.

And this is no normal case, as Josie is stranded without her team, a phone signal or any legal authority to investigate. When she discovers that someone has placed hidden cameras inside the retreat buildings, Josie’s terror grows with the knowledge that the murderer is among them.

Then another patient goes missing. With their food supplies running low and no chance of escape, Josie knows that she is in the greatest danger of her life, and that she alone has a chance to identify the killer and save the rest of the group before it’s too late…

320 pages / 55 chapters / 3 hr read

I’ve spoken many times about my love for the Josie Quinn series by Lisa Quinn and those that regularly view my blog know that the series holds a special place in my heart. Through the series we have explored the past of each of the main characters as well as uncovered some gruesome murders and put evil killers behind bars. There is always the thought when reading a long series like this of ‘when will the ride stop’ or ‘what is there left to write about’.

Understanding the craft it takes to write such a long series about the same characters shows commitment and understanding to both the reader and the author. It is something I value in a writer.

In this book we see Josie alone. She is at a retreat for PTSD trauma and essentially cut off from her team for the majority of the book. Her headspace upon entering this retreat is chaotic at best. I mulled over the different scenarios that could have come before her leaving before the retreat and I think the one that actually happened was the one that made most sense for her character but also the most sense for this plot line.

 At the retreat you have Sandrine, the counsellor, Cooper, the caretaker, and of course, Josie. You also have Alice, a trauma nurse, Taryn whose trauma lies with her adopted parents, Brian who’s foster home burned down and Nicola who lost a child.

It already felt like there was a lot of ground to cover at the beginning of the book with these scares details about the other characters, but it wasn’t just the blizzard that was bearing down on the mountain but a shit ton of chaotic dramatics too!

It was very easy to get lost in the characters. There were many times that I felt for definite that I’d found the guilty party only to turn the next page and feel uncertain. There is a certain way to writing contained murder books. It’s something Agatha Christie always seemed to excel at. There is a fine balance between red herring and fact.

Away from the murder side, Josie is at the retreat. I’ve talked a lot in the past of Josie’s resilience and strength as a character. There aren’t a lot of people in real life who would walk in a life similar to hers with such grace and determination. We already know that Josie carries trauma and is more of a ‘closed book’ when it comes to dealing with it. I was honestly a little surprised that she went through with the action of attending the retreat as I assumed it would be something that pushed her into a ‘no go’ zone.

Josie is still dealing with Mettner’s death and that is another thing I enjoy about the series. Mettner was a central character in the series and his death wasn’t just written off at the end of a book never to be mentioned again. The characters have been dealing with their grief for a couple of books now and that commitment to emotion allows the characters to appear more realistic and 3-dimensional.

The story is also split into two perspectives; however, it isn’t the usual story versus killer perspective. Here we have the main story through Josie’s eyes, and we also have Noah’s perspective. It made for an interesting read because it allowed for further inside into the evolving nature of the characters but also to what individual evolving, they had experienced.

I did discover one uncertainty towards the end of the book. It’s something I knew would appear at some point and like the other characters in the book, I am cautious in seeing how it will develop. I don’t have much to go on right now, but I’m sure there will be more emphasis on it in the next book, so I will reserve judgement for now.

I did not guess the killer. There was a superb amount of misdirection. I had two strong beliefs each one for different reasons but obviously, neither was correct. The revealed killer turned out to be more sinister than their character in the book led me to believe. It was artfully done and once again made me think of how many things, good and bad, us humans are able to get away with.

I read this book within 3 hours. Reading during the holidays is problematic – especially when you are with family who seem to double the noise they make 100% when they see you with an open book! This marks the second book of 2025, and my next read will be book 20 in the series. It’s a big achievement I think, getting to read book 20 in a series and even being able to write a 20 book series. I know that book 21 comes out soon.