When a VA therapist is brutally stabbed, Kate Holland is stunned—the man had clashed with her own shrink days earlier. But the shock deepens when Kate discovers stolen military-grade explosives hidden in his home.
The victim had been investigating a war crime overseas, and now the fallout is erupting in Arkansas. With Ruger at her side and Arash in the fight alongside her, Kate follows a trail of secrets and corpses toward a killer who won’t stop until innocent blood is spilled.
To stop him, Kate must risk everything—including the fragile trust she’s building with the two allies she can’t afford to lose.
BLOOD ON THE WIRE (Hidden Valor K-9 Mysteries Book #5) by Candace Irving is another outstanding action packed and thrilling addition to this series. I enjoyed every book in the entire series and Kate and Ruger’s journey, but I believe you could read this book as a standalone and still love it due to the strategically placed background information you may have questions about.
Special State Investigator Kate Holland and her K-9 Ruger are called to investigate the stabbing death of one of the Little Rock VA’s psychologists. When she gets to the scene, she realizes she met this doctor arguing with Kate’s own doctor just a few days earlier. As Kate and the local detective search the doctor’s home, they discover two safes. One has a cache of military grade C-4 and the other has a notebook filled with writing in code.
As Kate investigates the murder, she discovers the doctor was looking into a crime from two years ago in Afghanistan. There are suspects that are almost too convenient and many tangled stories of truth and lies. As the body count increases, Kate realizes someone is trying to get rid of all ties to the real killer and crimes of the past.
I love this series! I look forward to reading not only an intricately plotted suspense/mystery, but an intimate story of a vet’s healing journey through PTSD and a terrible wartime incident all while she navigates her current job, her work and personal connection to her dog, and finally her learned ability to open up in her personal relationships. The intricate plot and twists in this book left me continually guessing until the very end.
I highly recommend this suspenseful police procedural/K-9 mystery! This is a well written, engrossing series and I cannot wait for more.
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About the Author
A former US Navy Lt., Candace Irving is the daughter of a librarian and a retired boatswain’s mate chief. Candace grew up in the Philippines, Germany, and all over the United States. Her senior year of high school, she enlisted in the US Army. Following basic training, she transferred to the Navy’s ROTC program at the University of Texas-Austin. While at UT, she spent a summer in Washington, DC, as a Congressional Intern. She also worked security for the UT Police. BA in Political Science in hand, Candace was commissioned as an ensign in the US Navy and sent to Surface Warfare Officer’s School to learn to drive warships. From there, she followed her father to sea.
Candace Irving writes gritty military thrillers. She is the author of the Deception Point Military Detective Thriller Series and the Hidden Valor Military Veterans/K9 Psychological Suspense Series. She also writes military romance and romantic suspense as Candace Irvin (without the “g”).
Amidst the chaos of bombs and falling ash, eight-year-old Elsie has nobody left but her big brother Jack and their friends, all orphaned, runaway evacuees. Their world has shattered, their parents gone. Until Lisette, a beautiful jazz singer with golden hair and a voice that lifts spirits, finds them.
Lisette takes the children under her wing and soon Elsie, who hasn’t spoken since her mother’s death, begins to find her smile again. But Lisette, too, is healing from her own grief. As she cares for the rag-tag band of orphans with the help of enigmatic war hero Mr Wyngate, can Lisette open her heart to love again? And as the bombs continue to fall over their city, can she keep the children safe?
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Book Description – The Lifeboat Orphans
Fifteen-year-old Connie is leaving war-torn England for the safer shores of America, looking after a nine-year old orphan boy with sad blue eyes. But the ocean is rife with Nazi vessels. And when their boat is torpedoed, in the fear and chaos Connie can’t stop thinking about handsome Jack, who stayed behind in London. Will the orphans survive, and will Connie ever be reunited with her first love?
Back in London, sixteen-year-old Jack desperately misses Connie, his brave, kind friend, after their tearful goodbye when her ship set sail. As bombs set the skies ablaze, he listens to an old radio for any news about the dangerous Atlantic crossing. When he intercepts a secret message that could change everything, he races to the war office. Will they listen to a young lad like him, and can he save Connie and countless other lives?
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Lost Orphans and The Lifeboat Orphans in “The Runaway Evacuees Series” by Ellie Curzon, the pen name for Catherine Curzon and Helen Barrell, are two books that have touching, heart-warming, and heartbreaking moments, with a tinge of humor. The setting of London during the Nazi blitz of WWII shows how Londoners faced fear, survival, loss, and horror, but also were courageous, kind, brave, and strong. Both books are historical fiction based on the true story of the Blitz kids.
The Lost Orphans, known as Connie, Jack, Elsie, Ned, Ben, and Susan, were sent to the countryside to be safe, but instead were beaten, starved and were used as slave laborers. They escaped and fled back to London’s East End, sleeping where they could. The children banded together to not only survive but to help others by putting out fires, helping those buried under debris, and warning of unexploded bombs.
Readers meet two adults, Lisette Souchon and Adam Wyngate who become surrogate parents to the orphans after they helped rescue eight-year-old Elsie. This make-shift family stays together to make sure each survive.
The story began with The Lost Orphans and ends for now with The Lifeboat Orphans. The story flows from one book to the other. In the first book the narrators are Elsie and Lissette, while the second book is narrated by Connie and Lissette.
After an argument between Connie and Ned, he runs away and while rescuing someone has a wall fall on him, causing injuries. If he can make it to America Ned’s injuries might be helped by a specialist doctor. Connie, Ned, and Mr. Wyngate travel by ship to get to America that must navigate away from the German U-boats’ torpedoes.
With both books readers will experience, along with the characters, the intensity of the situation, the devastations, and the loss of life. People will worry for the children, while also cheering for them. These stories are gripping, riveting, and hard to put down.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: The idea for the series?
Ellie Curzon (alias for Helen Barrell and Catherine Curzon): Our previous series, The Codebreaker Girls, had Mr. Wyngate as a character. We loved him and wanted to get into his backstory. We wrote an entire novel about him, since he has been in each of our WWII novels as a returning character. He is essentially like a secret agent. We adapted the solo book about him, and it morphed into these stories with The Lost Orphans.
EC: Were these books based on anything real?
HB: My gram was an evacuee and did come home because she had an awful time. She was pinched and the family she was staying with in the countryside kept most of her rations. Her mom said, ‘come on home.’ She was a little girl traveling alone on the trains. We wanted to write about what war does to children.
CC: One of my interests is WWII history. The Lost Orphans were based on a real group of children who were called The Dead-End Kids. They were children who were evacuated and came back. They were befriended by a nineteen-year-old who led the group. They put out fires and rescued people from bomb blasts. Some were killed doing it. They became the spirit of the city. Their story had been forgotten. Their story is stranger than fiction. It seems far-fetched but is true.
EC: How would you describe Mr. Wyngate?
CC: He is based on the real stories of those in the SOE and intelligence services who did dangerous work. He is entirely fictional. He has very clipped language and never uses any spare words. Everything is snappy. I absolutely love writing him. Wyngate is direct, caring, brave, mysterious, proud, resilient, and has resolve. He is also the hero to one of the orphans, Elsie. He is her superhero. Based on Wyngate’s own past he knows what it is like to be a child that nobody wants. He wants to make a massive impact on these orphans’ lives.
HB: We have a joke that Ian Fleming knew him and based James Bond on him. Elsie has nobody except her brother Jack. He is like a hero to her who has walked out of the cinema screen. For him, Elsie represents his little sister. They have invincible links. Elsie feels that he understands her.
EC: How did you divide the stories of the orphans between the two books?
H & C: The first book was more Elsie’s story, while the second book was more Connie’s story. The first book was from Elsie’s and Lisette’s point of view, while the second book was from Connie’s and Lisette’s point of view. Connie is older and had a very hard life. In the first book, The Lost Orphans, they struggled to get out of dangerous situations and did not know what their life held, while in the second book, The Lifeboat Orphans, they are settled in a little home, have a profile, and have adults helping them. Connie daydreams that she and Ned were brother and sister.
EC: How would you describe Lissette?
HB: We each write different characters. Catherine wrote Mr. Wyngate and I wrote Lissette. She is French and a nightclub singer in Soho. We wanted to explore how Soho was a bit Bohemian. She makes Mr. Wyngate able to let his guard down with her. She and Mr. Wyngate became unofficial foster parents to the orphans. They stepped up to the plate.
CC: All these characters have no one. Lissette has her mom back in France, Wyngate is completely on his own, and the orphans lost everything. At first, they had no one and now they all have each other.
EC: What about the relationship between Jack/Connie and Lisette/Wyngate?
H & C: People think Wyngate is a bit of James Bond, with a girl in every port. But his lifestyle has it not happening. Both he and Lisette have emotional bruises along the way. Jack and Connie still have that youthful innocence with a belief in romance. This leads to a funny moment where Lisette and Wyngate realize they need to talk to the children about the birds and the bees. Connie and Jack had to grow up very fast. They acted as parents to the younger children. Both couples start as friends. We wanted to write the relationships with parallel lines.
EC: In the first book Elsie had become mute while in the second book Ned lost his hearing. Please explain.
HB: We like to explore different disabilities. I started going deaf when I was thirty and wanted to explore it with the orphan, Ned. Regarding Elsie, my brother who has different learning disabilities became mute.
EC: What do you want to say about the nuns and countryside farmer cruelty?
H & C: On a plotting level they were the springboard that pushed the story into action. My gram told us stories of being an evacuee. She was pinched and was left to go hungry. Some of the things did happen where the nuns did beat the orphan children with their rosaries. It was hard to write about it. I did not understand how they did not have compassion for the children left in their care. In this series the antagonist is the war. We wanted to show why the children were running away and from whom. At the same time there were good people as well like the Jewish Soup Kitchen that fed the orphans. We wanted to showcase the blitz spirit where most of the Londoners came together.
EC: What is the role of the blitz?
HB: We wanted to show readers a little of what the British went through by the Nazis. It brought Lisette, Wyngate, and the orphans together, and to show the abuses. Anyone writing about WWII cannot avoid writing about the blitz. When I wrote about sheltering in the station, a lot of it was remembering what my grandma used to tell me. Every morning, they would come out wondering if their house was still standing. That is why we wrote the scene where Elsie and Jack and the others came back to their house and found nothing there.
EC: Was the journalist Esther based on truth?
CC: She is not based on anyone real, but there were women who were war correspondent trailblazers. Like Esther’s reporting, the real orphans were reported on in the press. They became for a little while celebrities. They had their moment in the sun. They were constantly helping. A good story did help with wartime morale. It was quite an important weapon in the homefront arsenal, the morale of the British people. As reported, we wanted to show the bravery, tragedy, and selflessness. Here were these children who put themselves in danger to do something.
EC: Why the celebrities?
CC: The music was important. I love vintage music. Noel Coward and Vera Lynn are real. She is legendary and when someone brings up ‘wartime music’ in England people would say Vera Lynn. There are certain types of music that Englanders of any age would realize it came from WWII. For me, there are certain types of music that transport me. I vicariously lived Coward and Lynn coming to a benefit in England and Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in America.
EC: Is Pippa the dog based on any dog?
CC: Pippa is my dog. We started writing the series just after she died. Nothing has hit me as hard as her death. I felt like I lost a part of myself. Helen suggested to name the dog in the series after my Pippa. She is grey and peachy. I love having her in the book because that makes her immortal. She is Elsie’s dog and helps the children with their adventures.
EC: Next book?
H & C: It is a new book in the same genre with some returning characters, set in France. It is a story of remarkable women who pushed back against the Germans. Imagine a French village on the Normandy coast. The characters have bravery, friendship, and personal sacrifice. It will be out fall of 2026.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for WINTER’S SEASON by R.J. Koreto on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio, the author’s social media links, and a Promoamp giveaway sponsored by Partners In Crime. Enjoy!
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Book Description
In 1817 London, Before the Police, There Was Captain Winter.
London, 1817. A city teeming with life, yet lacking a professional police force. When a wealthy young woman is brutally murdered in an alley frequented by prostitutes, a shadowy government bureau in Whitehall dispatches its “special emissary”―Captain Winter. A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars and a gentleman forged by chance and conflict, Winter is uniquely equipped to navigate the treacherous currents of London society, from aristocratic drawing rooms to the city’s grimmest taverns.
Without an army of officers or the aid of forensic science, Winter must rely on his wits and a network of unconventional allies. His childhood friend, a nobleman, opens doors in high society, while a wise Jewish physician uncovers secrets the dead cannot hide.
But Winter’s most intriguing, and potentially dangerous, asset is Barbara Lightwood. Shrewd, beautiful, and operating as a discreet intermediary among the elite, Barbara shares a past with Winter from the war years. Their rekindled affair is fraught with wariness; she offers intimate information crucial to his investigation, but guards her own secrets fiercely. Like Winter, she is both cunning and capable of danger.
From grand houses to dimly lit streets, death stalks Captain Winter. He must tread carefully to unmask a killer, navigate a web of secrets and lies, and perhaps, in the process, save his own soul.
Genre: Thriller, Historical, Romance, Political, Crime Published by: Histria Books Publication Date: February 17, 2026 Number of Pages: 300 ISBN: 9781592116898 (ISBN10: 1592116892)
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
WINTER’S SEASON by R.J. Koreto is a new Regency mystery with an exciting cast of characters from all levels of Regency society, an intriguing murder mystery, and a well-paced investigative procedural led by retired military Captain Edmund Winter who now works for the Home Office. While this is a standalone book at this time, I would love to see it become a series because I did not want it to end.
The Napoleonic war ended two years ago and now in 1817, after his return from a deployment to India, Captain Edmund Winter finds himself working for the Home Office. With the successful capture of a murderer targeting prostitutes, Winter and the Bow Street Runners he is assisting find an unrelated corpse at the scene. It turns out to be a young Society woman who the family assumed had returned to their country home.
Winter must use his wits to navigate Society ballrooms and the shadowy secrets they keep with the help of unconventional friends. His childhood friend, now a nobleman, a Jewish physician from the Army who now performs autopsies, and a secretive woman from Winter’s past who is more than an entrée into society families. While Winter is dangerous to all those who cross him or threaten those he cares for, he must be careful because someone has already tried to kill him before he can unravel the secrets and lies to discover a murderer.
This is one of those books that I just fell into and could not put down. Capt. Winter is a compelling protagonist with so many facets. The main characters are all fascinating and fully developed, and the mystery is well plotted with plenty of twists and surprises, and well-paced to keep me reading. The author’s research is evident from the descriptions of the multiple levels of society, from nobility to servants, and the required or proper access to them and how to talk with them.
I highly recommend this thrilling Regency mystery and hope I get to read more about Capt. Winter’s investigations in the future.
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Excerpt
CHAPTER I
It was the custom of Colonel Sir Joshua Williams to invite his veteran officers to his house each Season to commemorate the Battle of San Stefano. After dinner, the closing ceremony was invariable: First, the ladies rose, the young in their pale blues and pinks and the more matronly in their deeper reds and purples. They smiled and departed, leaving the table surrounded by men in their scarlet coats, adorned with medals glittering by the light of dozens of beeswax candles in their silver holders. The liveried footmen filled the port glasses and left as well, closing the doors behind them.
One former company captain looked around, taking note that he was the youngest battle veteran there—the toast would fall to him. Others had moved on or died. He had himself missed last year’s dinner, spending it on the Afghan border, dressed like a Saracen and getting his skin burned black while trying to uncover the secrets of that land’s sullen and violent inhabitants. Even the task he had to complete after leaving tonight, difficult as it seemed, was nothing compared with that.
The colonel caught his eye, and so the captain stood. Every man stopped talking as the captain raised his glass, and then they stood at attention. He remembered the words easily, and in a strong voice he said, “Did our battle line ever break?”
“No!” shouted the company.
“Why did it not break?”
“We are the hard men,” they replied in unison.
“Gentlemen, to our departed brothers of the First Northumberland Foot,” called the captain. They drained their glasses and slammed them down, then burst into applause. The dinner was over.
The captain—indeed, he suspected, the other officers as well—was reflecting on how this dinner came about in a year of peace. The English and their allies had defeated Napoleon for the final time at Waterloo two years past now in 1815 and life was moving on—the best people were all in London this time of year, with no war to talk about, just fashions and parties and theater and how good it was to be able to import from France the best claret again.
They rejoined the ladies in the drawing room, and the captain sought out Lady Williams, the colonel’s wife.
“My Lady, thank you for your invitation.”
“It is I who should thank you, captain. These dinners mean so much to the colonel as he ages, having all his officers around.”
“And he means so much to us, Lady Williams, the pleasure and honor are ours. I am only glad I am back in London so I can attend.”
“Yes, he mentioned you found a position in the Home Office?” She showed as much surprise and curiosity as a lady of her breeding dared reveal. The captain knew the look—how did a man of his obscure background land what appeared to be a distinguished government position? Despite its simple name, the Home Office had become, since its founding some 25 years before, one of the most powerful and overarching government ministries, with responsibility for security and safety within the British Isles. The Home Secretary was one of the most influential men in England. How Winter had advanced his career in that august body was beyond reckoning.
“Yes, my lady. The work is interesting, but at times onerous, I’m afraid. Indeed, my masters call me even now.”
“At this hour, captain? How tedious for you. But again, I am pleased you could come. Give my warmest regards to the Earl and Countess.”
The captain said goodbye to his colonel and a few other officers, and the butler saw him out. He walked to the nearest stand and engaged a hackney cab to Bow Street Court. A few heads turned as he entered the building, but no one accosted him. A clerk gave him the barest nod but said nothing as he entered a room.
A few minutes later, the captain came out. He was no longer in his regimentals, but in rather shabby outfit, almost rural, with a slouch hat. Down the hall, he entered another room, where a squad of Bow Street Runners awaited—constables, employed by the local court at Bow Street, to keep order and seize felons. Winter suppressed a grimace. They were poorly trained and poorly paid, but it was pretty much all London had for law enforcement. Many still thought the idea of a formal professional constabulary too much government interference—too un-English. So, the Runners would have to do. At least they were willing and obedient.
“We have already gone over where you should be standing,” said the captain. “You know how important it is you aren’t seen.” There was more than instruction in his voice–there was menace.
“Yes, sir,” said the most senior constable present.
“Then take your places. I’ll be along shortly.”
Moving quickly, he left the building and walked along dark streets that became progressively dirtier and more dangerous. He saw men hiding in the shadows, those who preyed on the weak and unaware, but nothing happened to him.
Eventually he came to a building that was well-lit, at least by the neighborhood standards. It was certainly the noisiest venue in the street. The cracked and faded sign marked it as The Three Bells.
The Captain entered—a few were eating off dirty plates, and almost everyone was drinking beer, or something stronger. Slatternly women laughed and tried to slip away from the half-drunk men who loudly pursued them. Some allowed themselves to be caught, and there was more laughter and then a talk of money. The whole room smelled of smoke and grease, and the floor was sticky from weeks of spilled ale.
Few paid attention to the captain, but a fat man walked up to him surprisingly quickly for someone of his bulk.
“Oh captain, I am so pleased, do you think—”
“Shut up. Where’s Sally? She was suitable last night, and she’ll be suitable tonight.”
“Sally—oh there she is.” He pointed to a tallish girl wearing more makeup than an actress. A large man in worker’s clothes, probably a stevedore, thought the captain, had grabbed her and placed her on his lap. She didn’t seem to mind.
The captain strode over, grabbed the woman by her wrist, and pulled her off the man’s lap.
“Come, my girl, we have an appointment as you well know.”
She yelped with surprise, then gave a shrug and followed. The large man stood up.
“See here—I saw her first,” he said. His accent wasn’t London, which explained everything.
“Good for you,” said the Captain, and pulled the girl across the room. The big man started to follow, but two of his friends grabbed him.
“Now Jake, no need to cause trouble,” said the first, who was clearly local.
“Cause trouble? I’ll flatten him—”
“No, you won’t. You don’t know, you’re new here. For God’s sake, that’s the Captain, a soldier, they say he was, and you don’t want to start something with him—I’ve seen what happens to those who do—”
“That’s right,” chimed in the other friend, also a Londoner. “Remember Big Nick—used to be here, no one stood up to him, but he challenged the Captain…” he shuddered.
“And what happened?” asked a skeptical Jake. Both men look their heads.
“We never saw him again. He wasn’t arrested. They didn’t find his body—he was just…gone. So just stop thinking about it. There are plenty of other girls.”
But Jake still felt he had to make a show of standing up for himself.
“So, you’re telling me it would be a mistake to call him out?”
“Your last mistake,” said the first man. Then very softly, as if he was afraid of his words, he said, “He’s called Winter. If you’re thinking of staying in this part of London, you would do well to remember that name.”
***
Author Bio
R.J. Koreto is the author of the Historic Home mystery series, set in modern New York City; the Lady Frances Ffolkes mystery series, set in Edwardian England; and the Alice Roosevelt mystery series, set in turn-of-the-century New York. His short stories have been published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, as well as various anthologies.
Most recently, he is the author of “Winter’s Season,” which takes place on the dark streets and glittering ballrooms of Regency-era London.
In his day job, he works as a business and financial journalist. Over the years, he’s been a magazine writer and editor, website manager, PR consultant, book author, and seaman in the U.S. Merchant Marine. Like his heroine, Lady Frances Ffolkes, he’s a graduate of Vassar College.
He and his wife have two grown daughters, and divide their time between Paris and Martha’s Vineyard.
When the whole world is lying, someone must tell the truth.
Berlin, 1943: A group of high society anti-Nazi dissenters meet for a tea party one late summer’s afternoon. They do not know that, sitting around the table, is someone poised to betray them all to the Gestapo.
They form a circle of unlikely rebels, drawn from the German elite: two countesses, a diplomat, an intelligence officer, an ambassador’s widow and a pioneering head mistress. What unites every one of them is a shared loathing of the Nazis, a refusal to bow to Hitler and the courage to perform perilous acts of resistance: meeting in the shadows, rescuing Jews or plotting for a future Germany freed from the Führer’s rule. Or so they believe.
How did a group of brave, principled rebels, who had successfully defied Adolf Hitler for more than a decade, come to fall into such a lethal trap?
Undone from within and pursued to near-destruction by one of the Reich’s cruelest men, they showed a heroism in the face of the most vengeful regime in history that raises the question: what kind of person does it take to risk everything and stand up to tyranny?
THE TRAITOR’S CIRCLE by Jonathan Freedland is a nonfiction novel that reads like a gripping spy thriller. This book features a group of aristocratic Germans during WWII who come together to voice their objections to Hitler and the Nazi regime, help Jewish friends, families, and even strangers escape the Holocaust and are then betrayed by a traitor within. The terrible retribution of the Gestapo on all involved during the final years of the war is stark and terrible and yet their stories need to be told and remembered for their bravery and moral resistance to the depravity of the Nazi regime.
This is a nonfiction book that I was unable to put down, even with scenes of torture and depravity. The author masterly introduces the members of the group, and you become invested in the varied individuals and the various reasons for them opposing the new regime. I have read many nonfiction history books and historical fiction books about WWII and that era, so I assumed this story would not end well, but the author does a great job of following all the characters to the end of their journeys whether they lived or died. This book gives the reader a look at German dissenters during a time that a radical regime sought to eliminate all dissent.
I highly recommend this gripping nonfiction WWII novel!
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About the Author
Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist and former foreign correspondent. He is the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s contemporary history series, The Long View, as well as two podcasts, Politics Weekly America for the Guardian and Unholy, alongside the Israeli journalist Yonit Levi. He is a past winner of an Orwell Prize for journalism. He is the author of twelve books, the latest being The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World. He has written nine thrillers, mostly as Sam Bourne, including The Righteous Men which was a Sunday Times number one bestseller.
Ana Robbins was an Olympic star in the making—until tragedy forced her to leave that world behind. At the age of sixteen, she gave up her dream and never looked back. Fourteen years later, she’s a successful defense attorney, revered for her work with minors. But when her former coach turns up dead, Ana lands right back where it all began, and abruptly ended: The Palace, a world-renowned skating facility nestled high in the mountains of Colorado.
Ana returns to The Palace to defend the young skater accused of the brutal crime—Grace Montgomery. Despite her claims of innocence, all evidence points squarely at Grace’s guilt, and she’s days away from facing charges of first-degree murder.
But Ana’s investigation dredges up childhood memories of her own, triggering the fear that permeates this place where she once lived and trained far from home as an “Orphan.” With a blizzard raging outside, and time running out for Grace, Ana is determined to uncover the truth—even if it means exposing her own secrets that she buried here long ago.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Bladeby Wendy Walker takes readers into the world of figure skating intertwined with a murder mystery. Drawing on her own experience as a teenage figure skater, Wendy Walker vividly brings the rink to life showing readers how the figure skating competitions are toxic with the pursuit of perfection.
The plot has former Olympic figure skating hopeful Ana Robbins, now a successful defense attorney, returning to the Palace, an elite skater’s facility. She becomes the defense attorney for Grace Montgomery, who is accused of murdering the assistant coach, Emile Dresiér. Despite her claims of innocence, all evidence points squarely at Grace’s guilt, and she’s days away from facing charges of first-degree murder.
The chapters alternate between the past, Ana’s time as a skater at The Palace, and the present as a defense attorney. Ana’s investigation dredges up childhood memories of her own, triggering the fear that permeates this place where she once lived and trained under coach Dawn Sumner. She and three others became known as “The Orphans,” because they didn’t have parental support to help with Dawn’s sometimes cruel fear training. Ana and the other “Orphans” were each driven to the breaking point in pursuit of being the best and earning the praise of their coach, Dawn. This is a relevant read since next month the winter Olympics begin. Readers who watch the Olympics will be able to understand what goes on behind the scenes. In this story, what evolves is a dark web of suspense, exploitation, abuse, and shock.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?
Wendy Walker: Years ago, I was a competitive figure skater. I tried to craft a thriller with this sport. The plot is completely fictional. There is a forward story and backward story of 14 years ago. The focus of the story is not skaters attacking other skating but the pressure of the competition and how coaches misused the girls.
EC: What is true in the story about figure skating?
WW: There are four girls who are orphans living in a dormitory. There is also the rink, the competitions, some aspects of the skater mother’s, the Bleacher Bees, the way it feels to do the jumps, the Triple Axel, the take offs and landings, and how much they train. I did do research and speak with those more current in the figure skating world because my experience was forty years ago.
EC: What about the Orphans?
WW: They have this shared experience, so they forged close friendships. There were also other relationships and other people who are not trustworthy and are super competitive a la the Tanya Harding story from years ago. They developed this family structure, similar to the story The Outsiders, because they were missing parents. Joleen is the advisor, the more nurturing maternal figure. Kayla is the tough one, the stronger parent. Indy is the older sibling to Ana and the one who can best succeed. Ana is the lonely one, the youngest, and the most naïve.
EC: The setting of The Palace?
WW: There are a lot of people coming and going that can be an isolating experience as it was for me. I trained for three years, when I was 13 to 16 years old. I lived in a dormitory and only went home for the holidays and a week for the summer. The weather became an issue for me since I rode my bike to school. I felt so helpless because I was too young to have a car and did not have the emotional maturity to navigate that world. It was a free for all for me.
EC: Are the Bleacher Bees stage moms?
WW: Yes. My parents were not like the Bleacher Bees but there were some that were definitely there. Some moms were moms who were helpful and kind to me and others who did not have a family there. I think Indy’s mom was a real stage mom obsessed with making nationals and the Olympics. Indy’s mom lived vicariously through Indy. She went to the Olympics but never won a medal. She put everything into their child’s skating. They start to have the dream of their child.
EC: How would you describe the coach, Dawn?
WW: She wanted the ice skaters to be fearful of her and to have them strive for her acceptance. Winning becomes the entire self-identity of the skater, although it was not my training. Dawn has the philosophy that the skaters need to worship the coach and to please the coach. The fear of displeasing her is the greatest fear they have, more than falling or getting hurt. She was like an abusive spouse who gives love and affection at times while other times abuse.
EC: The philosophy was fear turns into rage, rage turns into action, and they should fight instead of fleeing or freezing. Did you get this from Yoda’s philosophy of fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering?
WW: No. I wanted to have a psychological phrase for the book. I thought about how much fear is involved in competitive skating where someone’s performance on that day is all that matters. If their brain is seized by the fear the jumps are hard to complete. They have to hurl themselves high into the air, pulling their legs in to get as many rotations as possible, and usually they will fall the first time they try. The fall hurts and skaters have to overcome that when practicing. They had to conquer the fear. There were girls that had huge bruises as Indy had in the story.
EC: How would you describe Grace, the one accused of killing?
WW: She can be impulsive, disturbed, rageful, with anti-social behavior. She has a high IQ. She is an enigma throughout most of the story.
EC: The victim Emile, can be described as?
WW: He is damaged, manipulative, a betrayer, a tattle-teller, and enjoys making the girls feel worthless. There is something sociopathic about him. He operates in the shadows. He suffered a knee injury as a skater because of Dawn’s training and became bitter. He has no empathy for these girls and finds enjoyment by interfering in their lives.
EC: Next book?
WW: It is set in wealthy suburbia. There is a love triangle that goes between the present and the past that involves a murder. The girl is part of a wealthy community and the boy is from the other side of the tracks. A little of West Side Story like. No title yet, and it will probably come out in 2027.
I am also writing another audible first novel next year. It is stand alone. It has a unique format, similar to The Room Next Door. It is a full-length novel with sound effects, music, and seamless narration with a full cast of characters that has a performer saying the lines.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
