Rainbow Reviews

BOOK BLURB:
Small town Pacific Northwest reporter Peter Fontaine wants to level up. A job offer in Austin seems to be the answer to his prayers, but there’s one catch: his boyfriend, Nick Olson, artist, recluse, and snow-loving outdoorsman.

When Peter agrees to go to the Freezing Man snow sculpture competition, he thinks he’s going to get a lesson in making love in a hollowed-out snowball in the woods. He thinks he’ll either find a way to convince Nick to come to the Lone Star State or be forced to say goodbye. But one frozen corpse derails Peter’s personal plans entirely.

BOOK REVIEW:
Fans of “Primal Red,” the previous story in this series, will not want to miss “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” The witty asides are just as sharp and numerous as before.

"I really think that after you get used to the cold you're going to like it. The Freezing Man festival is a lot like Burning Man, only colder and with fewer hippies on acid, and with more snow sculpting."

"But there will be some hippies on acid, right?"

"Only if you invited your friends."

Peter’s diverging feelings for Nick and his career were well-handled. Nick represented staying in the north west. Growing his career meant moving to Texas. I didn’t agree with Peter when he chose not to tell Nick about the job offer. But his reason for staying silent was believable ~ cowardice. I could tell that some of Peter’s angry comments to Nick (both out loud and to himself) were because of his anxieties regarding the job offer.

It was almost humorous, how in the cabin with five other people, one of whom probably was a murderer, Nick forced Peter to quell his natural investigative instincts. If he didn’t, the murderer might have been forced to strike again. The almost silent battle of wills between the two lovers was great fun. But despite his best efforts, Peter almost did get killed. The mystery in this second story seemed tighter and more convincing than the one in “Primal Red.”

Ms. Kimberling's descriptions of the frozen landscape definitely helped set the scene for this chilling, solidly written whodunit that kept me guessing right until the end.

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