Chilly Mystery Books for Winter Days

They canceled school. The ice and snow that everyone north of us experienced left my neighborhood with ice on the trees and roads. This means me and my people are gathered in our home, in our “alone zones”, draped in blankets, faucets intentionally dripping in the background.

Atlanta will sometimes get snow and ice, almost always in January. After we moved here, back in 2014, I had to immediately pick up my child from school because no one was prepared for the snowstorm we got. I was stuck on the road for hours in our suburban neighborhood, unable to get back to our apartment. When I finally made it back to the base of the hill that our complex resided, a man in coveralls asked me to roll down my window and gave me some advice for making sure I made it to the top, “You got 4-wheel drive? Then get a good start and punch it!”

My husband was not so lucky. He was stuck between the train station and our home. They closed the bridges over the Chatahoochee River and as a result, he spent the night sleeping on a stack of bathmats in a Home Depot that stayed open as temporary shelter. He made it home the next day once the sun came out.

Since then, Atlanta likes to operate out of an overabundance of caution, which I applaud. No school. No work. Stay home.

In our former home state of Kentucky, our friends are covered in multiple layers of snow. Some packed up their pets and are staying with friends. Some are secluded in the country, with generators, food, and quiet. One sent me a video of their snow coverage and after a few beats of the soft crinkle of ice hitting the trees and the ground, they said, “No one has driven down this road since my husband left for work.”

And all I kept thinking about was, “What a terrifying beginning to a story!”

I’m not going to write that story, so if you needed a prompt, you can take it. But it got me thinking about snowy stories, snowy mysteries, and snowy drama.

I write noirs, which has a lot more association with wet down streets and trench coats in the rain. But for Pretty Girls Get Away With Murder, I wanted the discovery of the body to be on a cold, grey day in Kentucky, the opposite of bluegrass and Derby Day sun. So I set that scene to be in December the day after an ice storm. I wanted the feeling of the cold, the grey, and the inconsistency of whether it’s raining, sleeting, or icing. Ice storms are not magical like snow days: they’re grimy and dangerous.

But anyone who has read a Nordic Noir knows that snow and ice are not just for Hallmark Holiday films and impromptu snowball fights. Winter can be absolutely terrifying.

Here is a short list of Chilly Mystery Books and Winter Snow-themed thrillers:

• Misery by Stephen King– whether you are drawn to the novel or the movie, it is a terrifying tale of an obsessed fan snowbound with their favorite writer, with bound being the key word. I just rewatched this one on HBO because they claimed it was leaving soon. (Someone might also mention The Shining, and yes, the winter landscape is absolutely suffocating. Be sure to leave room in the freezer in case it gets too scary for you.)

• The Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia – Speaking of The Shining, a young woman witnesses a horrific act in a posh hotel and deals with that trauma by watching terrifying movies, including The Shining. And this book is still somewhat a comedy. The same hotel is hosting a singing competition while a blizzard threatens to bear down on them. Everyone’s past comes to light in this one, and it’s delightful.

• Dark Places by Gillian Flynn – Not only is this book dark, it is also cold. All the flashbacks take place in winter of 1985 in farm country Missouri with a blizzard approaching. It’s cold in this book, like cows could freeze to death cold. And this coldness matches the coldness of present day Libby Day who hasn’t allowed anyone close to her since the murder of her family which she barely escaped. Creepy read, dark read, cold read.

• One by One by Ruth Ware – What I remember about this book is how it begins with chapters from the point of view of the staff at this tiny ski resort, where before everyone arrives, they take a dip in the hot tub with the gorgeous snowy landscape. Sounds amazing, until the people arrive for their luxury weekend and start acting horribly to each other.

• The Hunting Party by Lucy Hale – Lucy Hale writes locked room mysteries in precious locales, like a gorgeous hunting lodge full of old friends, but with a primal language of wolves and gnashing teeth. There seems to be a seasonality with her books: The Hunting Party is excellent for winter, and The Midnight Feast is fantastic for summer.

This is in no way an exclusive list. I know I have left off many books and stories. There was an excellent and terrifying short story that one of my writing instructors asked us to read about a blizzard where whole families instantly froze to death in their homes, and I cannot think of it’s name or who wrote it. Otherwise it would be on the list as well.

If you have a story or suggestion to add, please drop it in the comments below or look for me on Instagram @thebrandibradley

Note: I am not an affiliate nor an influencer. The links I provided were to assist the readers and not because I receive any financial gains. I used Bookshop.org because it supports indie booksellers. However, the best way to support me as a writer is to read, recommend, and purchase directly from my store.

In the shop I have mystery novels in both digital and print as well as short stories and essays. Click here to see what I have in the store!

Pretty Girls Get Away With Murder -- a southern noir by Brandi Bradley

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