A promise made to a dying man leads forensics ace Enzo Macleod, a Scot who's been teaching in France for many years, to the study which the man's heir has preserved for nearly twenty years. The dead man left several clues there designed to reveal the killer's identity to the man's son, but ironically the son died soon after the father. So begins the fourth of seven cold cases written up in a bestselling book by Parisian journalist Roger Raffin that Enzo rashly boasted he could solve (he's been successful with the first three). It takes Enzo to a tiny island off the coast of Brittany in France, where he must confront the hostility of locals who have no desire to see the infamous murder back in the headlines. An attractive widow, a man charged with but acquitted of the murder--but still the viable suspect, a crime scene frozen in time, a dangerous hell hole by the cliffs, and a collection of impenetrable messages, make this one of Enzo's most difficult cases.
Spending time with Peter May's charming and clever Enzo Macleod in Brittany is pure pleasure. In May's fourth installment of the Enzo Files series, the remote Ile de Groix, with its turbulent coast, rough weather, and laconic and secretive residents, tests Macleod intellectually and physically as he attempts to solve a case so cold it's frigid... If there's a flaw.. it's May's occasional awkward overwriting... Still, the truth hidden inside the mystery of Freeze Frame is fascinating and Enzo Macleod is great fun to hang out with. (Reviewed by Jo Perry).
Library Journal
Starred Review. The author of the much acclaimed "China Thrillers" surpasses himself here in misdirection, placing clues in plain sight and leaving the reader anticipating the fifth entry in this outstanding series.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. With its intricate plot, compelling characters, and bombshell denouement, this unsettling Enzo Files installment is a must-read.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Barbara Peters Updating the Enzo Series This isn't a review -- since I am Peter May's editor one can assume I am a delighted fan of his work.
This is to say that in line with the forensics in the seven-book Enzo series based on a wager that the Scottish scientist can solve seven cold... Read More
Waardenburg Syndrome
Half Italian, half-Scottish forensic expert Enzo Macleod has distinctive good looks: long hair with a streak of white pulled back in a ponytail, and eyes of different colors. This is because Macleod has a genetic syndrome, called Waardenburg Syndrome, affecting hair color, eye pigmentation and sometimes hearing. It's so named for the Dutch eye doctor, Petrus Johannes Waardenburg, who first noticed that people with differently colored eyes often had a hearing impairment, and defined the syndrome in 1951.
Overall, the syndrome affects an estimated 1 in 42,000 people; about 1 in 30 students in schools for the deaf have Waardenburg syndrome. The condition is usually inherited from one parent with the altered gene that carries it, though in rare cases it can be caused by a new mutation to the gene. It is also very rarely associated with slightly diminished cognitive function, cleft lip, intestinal and spinal defects, and other congenital disorders.
A pitch-perfect mystery, an alluring portrait of contemporary Venice, and an elucidating eye into the attitudes of a timeless place in the grip of change.
The first installment in a wonderful new series that follows the exploits of Benoît Courrèges, a policeman in a small French village where the rituals of the café still rule.
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