Fire Will Freeze by Margaret Millar

"Murder amidst the decayed elegance of a run-down Quebec chateau" Margaret Millar delivers her usual wry mix of humor and queasy horror in this 1944 mystery.

Miss Isobel Seton needs something to shake her up and is recommended a Canadian ski holiday. A spinster at 35 (!), she is not used to excitement, and Chateau Neige boasts experienced and attractive instructors. Off the sno-train, she boards the sno-bus to the sno-lodge with a bickering honeymoon couple, whispering young lovers, a psychology student and her father, a poet and his benefactor, a brash burlesque dancer, and the quiet man in the backseat is Mr. Crawford. A snowstorm has hit the wilds of Quebec, and when the bus driver gets out to check the tires, he doesn't return. With night approaching, they leave the bus, wandering blindly until they find the house of Miss Rudd, a batty old gray-haired woman in black (she's 50!) and her nurse companion. They are told there is no food or coal for heating (both lies), but have no choice but to spend the night, although no one is getting any sleep after someone kills the cat, the bus driver's clothing is found incinerated - not to mention the silence broken by a scream full of terror torn from a throat that would not scream again. When people begin to disappear, and a foot is found in a snowbank outside (attached to a frozen body), they begin to believe Miss Rudd's assertion that her tormenting brother has returned. Not for the first time does Miss Seton regret being talked into buying those $75 skis.

Margaret Millar is one of the best crime writers, distinguished for her prose and amusing characters, often focusing on the psychology of women. This is humorous and fun from the start, never letting up the pace or mystery. A perfect read for a dark winter night with a box of Laura Secord chocolates.

Named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America for lifetime achievement, Millar won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Beast In View in 1956. She was married to writer Kenneth Millar, better known under his pen name Ross MacDonald.

With most of her titles still in print, this is easily available in all formats.

1944 / Paperback / 192 pages