A Blue Water Mystery: Book 3
Publication Date: February 25, 2025
It’s murder by the books. Belonging to a book club and being part of the literary community in Blue Water County can be deadly.
Port Ripley is a dreamy postcard town, a charming spot nestled along Blue Water’s beautiful shoreline. The perfect place to live.
Except—a killer lurks amongst the residents, blending in like a chameleon.
For the last eleven years, respected schoolteacher and mystery writer, Ivy Rose, who left behind her traumatic past, has enjoyed a quiet life in the pretty town with its picturesque sunsets over the lake. But when the body of a fellow book club member washes ashore, the first in a series of suspicious deaths, the town becomes immersed in murder, forcing Ivy to come to terms with the dark secrets that haunt her.
Detective Scott Evans, once Ivy’s best friend and sleuthing partner, joins the local police to investigate. He finds Ivy, the woman he has always secretly loved, living under an assumed identity. They become reacquainted, and Scott discovers each of the victims has a tie to Ivy and the literary community in which she is involved. As more people Ivy knows die, it looks like she’s either the prime suspect or the main target.
The quiet community of Blue Water County is rocked as strange deaths occur, several of whom are mystery writers.
Author Ivanka Fear serves up an appropriate title with Cold Query, centering around aspiring writers sending their work out for review. Main character, Ivy Rose teaches high school by day and then puts on her mystery writing hat. Early in the story, the author drops unusual clues indicating Ivy has secrets of her own.
While much of the story is told in first person from Ivy’s perspective, there are some chapters that appear to be from the killer’s perspective. This serves to build suspense.
It’s not until an investigator gets called in for the series of murders does Ivy’s secrets come to the surface. Their shared past offers key insight into Ivy’s past.
As more “accidents” happen in the normally peaceful community, there’s a connection between the unpublished mystery manuscripts and a playbook of sorts for the killer.
Cold Query gives writers feedback about their submissions, but it’s the permanent kind guaranteeing those manuscripts will likely never be published.
Ivanka Fear is a Slovenian-born Canadian author. She lives in Ontario with her family and feline companions. Ivanka earned her B.A. and B.Ed. in English and French at Western University. After retiring from teaching, she wrote poetry and short stories for various literary journals. Ivanka is the author of the Blue Water Mystery series and the Jake and Mallory Thriller series. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, Crime Writers of Canada, and Vocamus Writers Community. When not reading and writing, Ivanka enjoys watching mystery series and romance movies, gardening, going for walks, and watching the waves roll in at the lake.
