Inspector Luc Vanier is drinking his way through Christmas Eve when he is called out to investigage the murder of five homeless people. His investigation takes hin into the backrooms of the Catholic Church, the boardrooms of Montreal’s business elite and the soup kitchens and back alleys of street life in winter.

Peter Kirby was born in Ireland and grew up in the hardscrabble neighbourhood of Brixton in South London. He came to Canada as a cook, went to university at night, and eventually became a lawyer. He now practises international law in one of Canada’s largest law firms and has been recognized as one of Canada’s leading 500 lawyers. His thrillers, all part of the Luc Vanier series and published by Linda Leith Publishing, include The Dead of Winter (2012), Open Season (2015) and Vigilante Season (2013). He lives in Montreal.

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• Short-listed, Unhanged Arthur

"Taut. Claustrophobic. Compelling.” – Will Ferguson“Powerful. Dark. Raw.” – Kathy Reichs“Riveting.” – John Farrow “Gripping. Compelling.” – Montreal Gazette“Grim. Convincing. Believable.” – Montreal Review of Books “Irishman Kirby joins John Brady and Peter Robinson in the ranks of the best English and Irish ex-pat crime novelists living in Canada.” – Nuacht "One of the pleasures of Kirby’s novel is the setting. Thugs and lowlifes rub shoulders with the elite, while the city is pummelled by an endless succession of vicious snowstorms…Kirby puts Vanier through his paces chasing a killer in a book that's fast-paced and enjoyable." -- Maclean's“Inspector Luc Vanier of the Montreal PD seems a character likely to join the ranks of Canada’s enduring sleuth figures.”- The Toronto Star"An auspicious debut from a writer to watch" - The Globe and Mail