Thursday, March 10, 2016

Outstanding New Zealand crime fiction set in the Southern Lakes district


THE ICE SHROUD by GORDON ELL
Published by The Bush Press, on March 3, 2016
Trade paperback, 340 pages, laminated limpbound cover
RRP $34.99   ISBN 978-0-9864564-4-2 


When a woman’s body is discovered frozen in the ice of a river near the alpine resort of Queenstown, Detective Sergeant Malcolm Buchan faces both a mystery and a moral dilemma. The identity of the nude woman is critical to the motives and manner of her murder, and Buchan is personally involved. So are a number of locals, from ski bums to multi-millionaire businessman.
Newly appointed to head CIB in the Southern Lakes district, Buchan hunts the killer through the entanglements of corruption and abuse that lie barely below the surface of the tourist towns.
The assistance of a woman traffic sergeant is critical to the hunt but she brings her own dilemmas. The community is practised at keeping its secrets, and finding the truth comes at a price.


About the author:
Publisher and author Gordon Ell wrote The Ice Shroud on his retirement from The Bush Press which specialised in publishing books about New Zealand’s natural and historical heritage. 
He told The Bookman:

‘I’ve always been a fan of adventure and crime fiction and here was an opportunity to change direction. I thought it would be easy to write fiction about New Zealand and not be tied down by facts but it turned out to need just as much discipline. I chose Central Otago as the setting because I’ve spent a lot of time there, exploring old gold trails and ghost towns for previous books, and the countryside is exciting and beautiful. 

Gordon Ell’s previous books include his first, Encouraging Birds in the NZ Garden, still in print after 34 years, books about the discovery and exploration of NZ, early Maori settlement, New Zealand traditions, and popular guides to natural history and travel. His main interests are in exploring the New Zealand wilderness, travel to unusual destinations abroad, and reading crime fiction. 
I hope he will now add writing crime fiction featuring D.S.Malcolm Buchan to his interests. Buchan is an excellent character in the crime-fiction mould and this is a cracker of a novel.


The Bush Press
PO Box 33-029, TAKAPUNA 0740, Auckland NZ

Trade representatives: books r us -TEL 09 444-4144 sales@booksrus.co.nz
Distributors: David Bateman Ltd TEL  (09) 415-7664 bateman@bateman.co.nz

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