A Killing Frost

A Killing Frost
Michael A. Black
Dorchester Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-8439-5985-7
Fiction, Mystery, Detective
Reviewed by Chris Gerrib

I recently finished reading Michael A. Black’s first novel A Killing Frost.
I met Michael at Windycon, where we were on a panel about Military science fiction. Michael writes hard-boiled detective mysteries, not science fiction, but since he served in Vietnam, he brought some reality to the panel.
At any rate, I bought his book A Killing Frost, which was recently released in mass-market paperback. It’s the first book in his Ron Shade series. Ron is a newly-minted private detective and former SWAT team member, living in Chicago. He’s got the typical, not to say required, hard-boiled traits: low on cash, recently broken up, and kicked out of the force due to a SWAT raid gone bad.
Ron gets hired by Maria, a social worker, to find her friend Juanita’s boyfriend, an illegal alien named Carlos Sanchez, who’s gone missing. It’s not a high-money gig, but Ron Shade needs all the paying work he can get, so he starts looking. This investigation very quickly leads to a shady storage facility which seems to be hiding something. In the meantime, Ron’s having a few personal problems, including getting his car stolen with his cell phone inside.
In the hard-boiled genre, whodunit is usually fairly quickly apparent, the issue is proof and surviving to hand that proof over. A Killing Frost is typical in that regard. Having said that, it’s not stereotypical. Ron is an unusual character, and the supporting cast is believable. The author’s background as a working cop in the Chicago area is put to good use, and the story moves along at a rapid clip. Overall, I found A Killing Frost to be an enjoyable read.