Excerpt from The Frozen Dead by Bernard Minier, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

'It's a bit late in the game to be doubting yourself, don't you think, Diane?'

His words made her blush.

'You'll be up to it, I'm sure. You have the dream profile for the job. I'm not saying it'll be easy, but you'll manage, I know you will.'

'You're right,' she said. 'I'm being ridiculous.'

'Not at all. Anyone in your shoes would react the same way. I know the reputation that place has. Don't let that get to you. Focus on your work. And when you come back to us, you will be the greatest specialist on psychopathic disorders in all the cantons. I have to let you go now, Diane. The dean's expecting me, to talk about finances. You know what he's like: I'm going to need all my wits about me. Good luck. Keep me posted.'

Dial tone. He'd hung up.

The silence, interrupted only by the sound of the stream, draped itself over her like a wet canvas. The plop of a big clump of snow falling from a branch made her jump. She put her mobile into the pocket of her down jacket, folded the map and climbed back into the car.

Then she backed round to leave the lay-by.

A tunnel. The beam of her headlights glanced over the black, streaming walls. No overhead lighting, a bend immediately beyond it. And the first sign, at last, on a white fence: 'CHARLES WARGNIER INSTITUTE FOR FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY.' She turned slowly and drove over a bridge. The road climbed suddenly and sharply, following a few hairpin bends through the fir trees and the snowdrifts – she was afraid her old banger might skid on the icy slope. She had neither snow tyres nor chains. But quickly enough the road flattened out.

Excerpted from The Frozen Dead by Bernard Minier. Copyright © 2014 by Bernard Minier. Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Minotaur. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.