A Killing Frost

A frost fair erected on the frozen Thames during the winter of 1715%E2%80%931716 provides diversion from the bitter cold as well as political turmoil in Wynn's winning fourth Blue Satan mystery (after 2007's The Motive from the Deed). One morning at dawn, a frozen corpse dressed in a coronation suit is discovered leaning against the wall of a wooden booth on the ice. Three days later, the authorities have ascertained that the deceased, Sir Walter Tatham, was "murdered under the most vicious of circumstances." Hester Kean, who was acquainted with the victim and has "a knack for making inquiries," turns for investigative help to her special friend, Viscount St. Mars (aka the Blue Satan, the notorious highwayman). Meanwhile, St. Mars has his own problems assisting the escape of a Jacobite rebel from Newgate prison. Through close attention to authentic period detail, Wynn brings early 18th-century England to life. (July)