Freeze Before Burning
by Nikki Stern
December 13-31, 2021 Virtual Book Tour
Hi, everyone!
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for FREEZE BEFORE BURNING (Sam Tate Mystery Book #3) by Nikki Stern 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 and social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
True Crime Fans Iced by Cold-blooded Killer
What do a bartender, a priest, and a librarian have in common? They all work in New York City. They’re all true crime fans. And they’re all dead, courtesy of a predator with a chilling approach to murder.
Talbot County, Maryland Lieutenant Sam Tate is in the Big Apple to find answers about her own tragic past when she is pulled onto the case of the Dry Ice Killer by an old friend with the NYPD. Drawn to a new colleague, she questions her long-time relationship with her FBI boyfriend. Meanwhile, she’s caught between the demands of an impatient bureaucracy and an especially sadistic sociopath. This may be Sam’s most dangerous case yet—if she survives.
Freeze Before Burning
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Published by: Ruthenia Press
Publication Date: December 8, 2021
Number of Pages: 295
ISBN: 978-9995487-7-6
Series: The Sam Tate Mystery Series, Book 3
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
FREEZE BEFORE BURNING (Sam Tate Mystery Book #3) by Nikki Stern is an exciting, fast-paced police procedural/crime mystery featuring Lieutenant Sam Tate who manages even on vacation to become involved in the chase for a serial killer. This book can be read as a standalone with a new location and fully solved crime, but there are a backstories from the previous books regarding Sam’s personal life and previous cases that you miss out on. This series should be read in order.
Lieutenant Sam Tate is in NYC to reconnect with family and investigate lingering questions from her own tragic past. When she runs into the brother of a former partner, she is pulled into an investigation as a consultant which quickly turns into the search for a serial killer who seems to be targeting members of a true crime podcast.
As the body count increases, so does the threat to Sam’s own life.
This is a page turner with a great balance between the protagonist’s past story investigation intertwined with the present-day police procedural chasing The Dry Ice Killer. Sam is a strong, intelligent investigator who you can empathize with. The author does a good job of portraying how her past has influenced her current life and relationships. The ending leaves Sam moving to a new position again and a new type of personal intrigue surrounding her extended family. The crime mystery plot in this book in the series was well paced and continued to ratchet up the tension right up to the climax.
I can recommend this edge-of-your-seat police procedural crime mystery and I am looking forward to following Sam on more adventures in the future.
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Excerpt
Ed Rizzo slid his ample body into the ornate confessional, crossed himself, and pushed a strand of thinning hair off his forehead. “Forgive me, Father,” he intoned, “for I have sinned, although I’m pretty sure God will cut me some slack even if my wife won’t, if you take my meaning.”
At ten in the morning, the sanctuary was deserted. Good. He didn’t need anyone listening to his confession, which he unloaded to the figure who sat beside him in the confessional over the next ten minutes.
Even as he talked, he considered who might be on the other side of the grate. Rizzo couldn’t make out the features of the man. He wondered if he’d landed the new priest. Maybe a younger person would make light of his transgressions, which mostly related to his perfectly legitimate reaction to his obnoxious neighbor, Frank Pagonis.
Rizzo had his justifications lined up. He hadn’t survived more than a year of enforced quarantine with three kids and a demanding wife, never mind the missing paycheck for a while, only to put up with the stolen newspapers, a lawn mower returned with a bent blade, and a television loud enough to wake the dead.
“But when his dog, which, by the way, he refuses to leash and that’s against the law, went and dug up my tomato plants, yeah, I sprayed some stuff on whatever the mutt left. Not enough to kill the animal, you understand. He can’t help it if he has a jerk for an owner. I would have sprayed his owner’s food if I could have. The point I’m making is, the dog got sick, but it didn’t die, okay?”
Rizzo cocked his head, thinking he might have heard a faint sigh.
“Now he’s coming around with a pile of vet bills and talking about suing me. I told him to take his threats and shove them. I tell you, Padre, I am this close to beating that smug face or maybe twisting that scrawny neck of his. My wife claims that kind of thinking is sinful. I don’t think it’s as bad as doing the deed. I haven’t told her about poisoning the dog, but sparing her the details isn’t the same as lying, is it?”
Nothing. The guy had probably fallen asleep. The confessional was stuffy, and Rizzo experienced a touch of claustrophobia. Time to move things along.
“If you can just suggest a penance to perform, I’ll get it covered. Then I can be on my way.”
He stopped talking, suddenly aware of the silence, how absolute and enveloping it was. The noises of the city street outside had receded. He could hear himself breathing.
“Hey, Father? You all right in there?” Rizzo scratched the grill dividing the two sides of the confessional. His head was pounding now, and he felt vaguely dizzy.
“I know I’ve been yakking a lot. How about we wrap this up, okay?” Again, no response. It occurred to Rizzo that the other man hadn’t said a word the entire time. What if the good father had suffered a heart attack?
He hoisted his bulk off the narrow bench and pushed himself out of the tiny space. The other side of the confessional had its own entrance. He rapped on the door, then tried the handle, more out of instinct than anything else. It turned in his hand, and he pulled.
The black-garbed figure sat with head bowed, hands folded in his lap as if in prayer or contemplation. Or asleep. Rizzo put a tentative hand on the man’s shoulder. With a sigh like a punctured balloon, the black-robed figure tipped sideways off the bench, fell to the floor, and rolled like a blow-up toy.
Startled, Rizzo jumped back. Stay cool, he told himself.
He bent over with an umph and put two fingers to the priest’s throat to search for a pulse. He expected to feel cold, not the scalding heat that burned his skin.
“Jesus Christ!” he yelled, forgetting for a moment where he was. He waved his blistered hand in the air and hopped around until a wave of nausea stopped.
With his foot, he nudged the body so that it rolled onto its back. He stared, speechless for once, at the face of the priest. Then he stepped farther back, pulled out his cell phone, punched in 9-1-1, and gave his report to the dispatcher in a calm, measured tone.
He agreed to wait for the police and medical authorities just outside the church. He even accepted the suggestion that he might dissuade others from entering until help arrived.
Without looking again at the body of the priest, Ed Rizzo crossed himself. He walked slowly to the front door, stepped into the fresh air, and threw up.
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Author Bio
Nikki Stern is the author of six books, two non-fiction and four fiction. The Wedding Crasher, a 2019 Kindle Book Award Winner, and Bird in Hand, a 2020 Shelf Unbound Notable Indie, are the first two books in the Sam Tate Mystery Series. Freeze Before Burning is the latest. Nikki shares author credit on a series of interactive murder mysteries published by Samuel French. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime and the Independent Book Publishers Association.
Social Media Links
NikkiStern.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @NikkiStern
Instagram – @realnikkistern
Twitter – @realnikkistern
Facebook – @NikkiSternAuthor
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/f24bf84b781/?
Thanks so much for the great review! I will be reading and reviewing this one myself, can’t wait!
You are welcome, Wendy! Enjoy!
That cover is really eye-catching! I like that Sam is dealing with family issues as she tries to solve the murder.
Thanks for your comments, Wendy! I like personal issues intertwined with the mystery plot, too.