The Cold Truth

Six months pregnant. Blizzard conditions. A young woman is missing and she's not lost. She's hiding.

The worst storm in a decade is descending on Elk Creek when the callout comes: female hiker, late twenties, overdue from the ridge. Gemma is supposed to be on light duty. Dr. Hart has been clear about the limits no extreme conditions, no sustained exertion at altitude, no situations where a fall could endanger the baby. But the command post still needs someone who understands these mountains, and Gemma has never been good at watching from a distance.

Kate and Scout take the primary field role, their most demanding assignment yet. What they find in the backcountry rewrites the missing person report entirely: Elena didn't get lost. Elena is hiding. From something that happened before the storm. From someone who knows the mountains as well as any searcher. And in a cave wall scratched with the words HE TRIED KILL, Kate finds evidence that changes everything about the nature of the search.

The case unfolds across whiteout conditions, abandoned mine shafts, and the desperate logic of a woman who has been running long enough that rescue and pursuit have become indistinguishable.

And through it all, Kira, retired from primary duty but present at the command post, her muzzle gone white, her eyes still sharp, watches the mountains and knows things her handler is only beginning to understand.

Perfect for fans of Margaret Mizushima, C.J. Box, and Nevada Barr. The Cold Truth is tense, atmospheric, and impossible to put down.

Book 9 of 14. Gemma 6 months pregnant. Kate leads her first solo case. Start with Book 1: Trail Gone Dark.