Broken Ice

The disappearance of 17-year-old high school student Linnea Engstrom after a hockey game in Warroad, Minn. (aka Hockeytown USA), kicks off Goldman’s witty, well-plotted second mystery featuring PI Nils Shapiro (after 2017’s Gone to Dust). Linnea’s parents hire Nils, who soon learns that another student, 18-year-old Haley Housh, went missing after the same game, though the girls weren’t together. Haley’s body turns up in a cave outside St. Paul, and Nils is shot in the shoulder with an arrow outside it. Nils knows he ought to be resting from his serious injury, but he also realizes he has little time to find Linnea before it’s too late. Divorced and involved in a failing relationship as well as a struggling business, Nils is a deeply flawed but good-hearted everyman. He’s supported by a cast of wonderfully quirky characters, including the former Canadian Football League player turned nurse practitioner hired by his ex-wife to care for his wounded shoulder. Readers will look forward to seeing a lot more of Nils and crew. Agent: Jennifer Weltz, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. (June)