In his latest adventure, professor and sometime amateur sleuth Thomas Martindale leaves campus to sign on as a science writer for a research expedition to the Arctic for a change of pace from the often mundane world of the university. The work is unique: an attempt to study ice as a tool for national security. Soon after the members of the team board a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker for the journey to their base--a remote island in the Beaufort Sea--Russian scientists join the group with unpleasant consequences. The rivalry turns deadly after the icebreaker leaves and people start dying under mysterious circumstances. The arrival of an Arab terrorist and a marauding polar bear complicate life on the small island. An early freeze traps the men and women of the expedition as a massive ice shield closes in. The events oddly parallel a similar (and real) disaster Martindale is writing about, which took place in 1897.

Maxine Benson, police chief in a small town, sets out to solve a murder in this work of crime fiction.

It's almost summer in small town Port Ainslie. Or is it? Temperatures are so far below normal that Police Chief Maxine Benson and her team are wearing sweaters. But is it cold enough to freeze the body of the man found in a ditch on the outskirts of town one morning? Maxine starts to investigate, but she is elbowed aside by the mostly-male provincial police force so she takes charge on her own. Soon she's visiting the victim's cold-hearted widow, tracking the widow's mysterious brother, and confronting the killer alone in a tract of forest. Will Maxine's skills solve this twisting tale of a case?

It's almost summer in small town Port Ainslie. Or is it? Temperatures are so far below normal that Police Chief Maxine Benson and her team are wearing sweaters. But is it cold enough to freeze the body of the man found in a ditch on the outskirts of town one morning? Maxine starts to investigate, but she is elbowed aside by the mostly-male provincial police force so she takes charge on her own. Soon she's visiting the victim's cold-hearted widow, tracking the widow's mysterious brother, and confronting the killer alone in a tract of forest. Will Maxine's skills solve this twisting tale of a case?

Small-town police chief Maxine "Max" Benson is just settling into her new life when her ex appears on the scene. Apparently, he and his new young lover just happen to be visiting her area on holiday. Max left her marriage and the Toronto police to become chief in Port Ainslie, where she runs a three-person department with few problems and enjoys a different pace of life. That's all about to change when Max's ex-husband is accused of killing his young lover right in Max's own backyard. It seems that only Max's superior detection abilities can save him from an almost certain conviction. This is the third book in the Maxine Benson mystery series.

As has often happened to Thomas Martindale in the past, the routine events of everyday life can suddenly become very complicated. Take commencement, that most moving and rewarding event of the year on any campus. He is enjoying the ceremony as the host of three candidates to become the new university president when a tragic incident changes everything. Or jury duty. The chance encounter of a colleague while he is on jury duty leads to the discovery of a nefarious scheme to use illegal immigrants in deadly virus research. Or as a member of the committee choosing the new president. Is someone trying to kill one of the candidates? Added to this is something new for the longtime loner: he may have fallen in love.