2017 Arthur Ellis Best First Novel Award Finalist

It’s too cold to go missing in northern B.C., as a mismatched team of investigators battle the clock while the disappearances add up.

A popular rockabilly singer has vanished in the snowbound Hazeltons of northern B.C. Lead RCMP investigator David Leith and his team work through the possibilities: has she been snatched by the so-called Pickup Killer, or does the answer lie here in the community, somewhere among her reticent fans and friends?

Leith has much to contend with: rough terrain and punishing weather, motel-living and wily witnesses. The local police force is tiny but headstrong, and one young constable seems more hindrance than help — until he wanders straight into the heart of the matter.

The urgency ramps up as one missing woman becomes two, the second barely a ghost passing through. Suspects multiply, but only at the bitter end does Leith discover who is the coldest girl of all.

RM Greenaway has been a waitress and a darkroom technician, and also worked in probation. She travelled B.C. as a court reporter, and writes a crime series set in the province featuring the barely compatible RCMP detectives Cal Dion and David Leith. Her first novel, Cold Girl, won the 2014 Arthur Ellis Unhanged award. She lives in Nelson, B.C.

R.M. Greenaway's profile page

• Short-listed, Arthur Ellis Award, Best First Novel
• Winner, Unhanged Arthur Award for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel

R.M. Greenaway’s dark and haunting BC Blues series introduces a cast of finely rendered, flawed and unforgettable characters. In Cold Girl, Greenaway is unflinching as she stitches together mundane evil, everyday ignorance and quiet kindnesses. The result is a mystery that is both a gripping depiction of police procedure and a deep reflection of human nature.

Deryn Collier, author of Open Secret

Greenaway brings a keen understanding of love, loyalty, frailty, and greed to her multilayered series debut.

Kirkus Reviews

The strong sense of place turns the setting into another character.

The Book Trail

When both constables get involved in a pair of hugely intricate murder cases, one of them of the serial variety, each reveals investigative strengths that give an already strong narrative an extra edge, all of which promises more good things ahead for Greenaway’s RCMP series.

Toronto Star

Both he [Dion] and Greenaway have made impressive debuts...headed toward genuine crime-fiction acclaim.

London Free Press

A series to watch.

Booklist

Greenaway is at her finest when she takes us up into the cold, forbidding wilderness, where few comforts serve to ease the mind or body.

Globe and Mail

Greenaway’s greatest strength in Cold Girl lies with her writing, in particular how she is able to describe the setting.

Words of Mystery