The Coldest Case by Tessa Wegert is a highly recommended investigative thriller and the sixth book in the Shana Merchant series.

On the small remote island of Running Pine, part of Lake Ontario’s Thousand Islands Archipelago, eight people are overwintering, including six year-rounders and two Social media influencers, Cary Caufield and Sylvie Lavoy. Cary and Sylvie are documenting their stay on the Instagram account Running Wild and receiving thousands of dollars of merchandise for product placement. When Cary goes missing while ice fishing, the state police are called in to assist.

Tim Wellington, Shana Merchant's partner and husband, is part of the initial 2 person team who make the dangerous journey to the island. Shana is almost 7 months pregnant and trying to cut back on risky activities, but on the island Sylvie insists to Tim that she will only talk to Shana, so Shana also makes her way to the island to talk to Sylvie. At the same time, Shana has called an old friend to help look into a cold case that still haunts her. She believes it may be tied to a serial killer case from New York City.

The even-paced plot follows the present day freezing cold search for Cary, which turns into a murder investigation, with flashbacks to Shana's previous unsolved cold case in NYC from 4 years ago. It is easy to follow both cases, although I found the current case more interesting than the cold case. The action does pick up later in the novel with some unexpected developments. Both cases have surprising twists that are unpredictable.

As the sixth book in the series, I personally felt that this would work better for readers already following the series. At times it felt as if I was missing pieces of information or had an incomplete picture of background information and character development. It is still a very satisfying investigative mystery/thriller. Thanks to Severn House for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

I’m a huge fan of this mystery series that features Investigator Shana Merchant.

For me , this book sits right at the edge of being a thriller as Shana is tackling an unsolved 4 year old cold case that happened when she was an investigator in New York City. She also is helping solve a current case in a remote island in her current jurisdiction of a missing overwinter islander who is also a social media influencer.

Shana is 7 months pregnant and decides to look into her last case when she was an investigator in New York City where a woman with a similar scar as Shana’s is dragged from the river.

The missing islander is new to the community but part of a group of 8 that stays on the island year round. These hearty souls have learned to rely on themselves as they battle the harshness of nature.

This book has a perfect amount of mystery, action, and drama. I loved the isolated setting of the current mystery as well as the way we learn about Shana’s past through the New York City cold case.

You can start the series with this book, but I highly recommend going back and reading the others in this series.

Tessa Wegert, the Author of “The Coldest Case” has written an intriguing and edgy novel. The Genres for this books are: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense and Fiction. Tessa Wegert vividly describes the cold, desolate, and dangerous island, and the dramatic and suspicious characters. In this edgy, well- written novel, Shana Merchant and her husband Tim, both part of law enforcement, are back, and Shanna is now pregnant. The story takes place on Running Pine, a section of Thousands Islands, which is isolated in the winter. The eight people who stay in the frigid winter weather are called Longtermers, and many their relatives and ancestors come from this land. Shanna is reflecting on an unsolved homicide case that had taken four years earlier in New York City.

Two Influencers from Instagram, Cary and Sylvie visit this quiet island, and take pictures of the island, and the products they receive for their media exposure. Sylvie and her family come from this island, and her boyfriend Cary seems very eager to get something. Cary disappears, and Shanna becomes involved in this suspenseful mystery and thriller. Is there another stranger involved in Cary’s disappearance, or is it one of the suspicious Longtermers?

From both cases, Shanna is facing danger. There are secrets, betrayals, danger and murder. I highly recommend this intense mystery.

If you like detective mysteries and you haven’t read a Tessa Wegert book you need to pick one up!
Another suspenseful, chilling and unputdownable story, I love Shana’s character and the writing style is simply addictive.
This is book six in a series, but they all can be read as a standalone.

Thank you Suzy Approved Book Tours for this tour invite.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 by Tessa Wegert releases November 5, 2024.

Tessa Wegert, you have a fan for life. I started this one and could not put it down. Perfect pacing, hooked from page one. Thank you Tessa and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

In “The Coldest Case,” Senior Investigator Shana Merchant is called to the remote island of Running Pine, located in the Thousand Islands region during a harsh winter. The island is home to just eight residents, including two newcomers, social media influencers Cary and Sylvie, who are documenting their year on the island. When Cary goes missing after an ice fishing trip, panic ensues among the tight-knit community.

As Shana investigates Cary’s disappearance, she discovers that his girlfriend Sylvie is withholding crucial information. The investigation becomes more complicated as it intertwines with a cold case from Shana’s past—an unsolved homicide that continues to haunt her. With a storm approaching and tensions rising among the islanders, Shana must navigate both the present mystery and her unresolved past.

The novel explores themes of isolation, the impact of social media on real-life relationships, and the secrets that can fester in small communities. As Shana delves deeper into the investigation, she realizes that uncovering the truth may put her own life at risk.

“The Coldest Case” promises a gripping narrative filled with suspense and unexpected twists as Shana Merchant races against time to solve both crimes before becoming a victim herself.

It's always great to pick up a new Tessa Wegert novel and catch up with the happenings in Shana and Tim's lives and this was no exception!
There was a kind of then and now to this story as when faced with the disappearance of Cary, it triggers a memory in Shana to a cold case from five years ago. With all that she has learned in the time since this case, it really set her Bram/Abe alarm going so she reaches out to an old friend for assistance.
Dealing with all that while also being heavily pregnant sets off Tim's worrying about her and as always he tries to protect her from all harm including herself. This really isn't going to work with our Shana though is it and it's not long before she's trying to immerse herself in the current case as well.
As you can imagine with all that going on this was quite a fast paced book and it was most definitely a page turner for me. I zoomed through it and loved every page, the only issue I have now is wondering how long it will be before I can head back to the Thousand Islands for another thrill ride and to find out what's next in the lives of Shana & Tim!

The Coldest Case is my first book by Tessa Wegert. Though it is the sixth book of a series it is also a great standalone novel. I am more than impressed by her writing style and can’t wait to read the others in this series. The storyline was superb along with the characters as well as the twists and turns. This book had me from the very beginning and I didn’t put it down until I was finished. It was indeed a wonderful way to spend a Sunday. To say that I recommend this book is understatement. Read it! You definitely won’t regret it. It’s a Masterpiece!
Thank you NetGalley, Tessa Wegert and Severn House for the advanced copy.

I love this series, and this latest novel is as good as the others I've read. From the beginning, the sinister, claustrophobic atmosphere of the island setting contributes to the tension of the hunt for a killer hidden amongst the small group of islanders during a savage winter. The storyline has plenty of twists, and in addition to the main mystery, the murder of a social media influencer, police officer Shana is still hunting for former victims of her serial killer cousin, even after his suicide. Suspicion falls on first one and then another of the island's seemingly benign inhabitants, and the tension doesn't let up until the final chapter as the web of secrets the islanders are hiding unravels. I recommend this one to lovers of dark mysteries!

I've been meaning ot read a book by Tessa Wegert for a while, and when I saw that stunning cover I knew it had to be this one.
I do love a mystery (or horror) story set at snowy landscapes or in the middle of the woods. Something about it fits perfectly to a murder or disappearing mystery.
And I'm quite surprised that I did enjoy this book. I've never read anything else from this 'series' and I usually don't like detectives stories.
But this one has such an intriguing plot (also love small communities) and such a cold and snowy atmosphere that it worked for me. Also, it was great that this is not a long book. So there was no significant time to drag on.
Like I said, before this one I had never read a book by this author before, but it'd make sense to recommend this one to whoever has read a book by her in the past and enjoyed it.

I wish I read this when it was snowing. I loved thios book because it was so atmospheric and it was such a good smooth read,

Another great Shana Merchant mystery. Ms Wegert's books just keep getting better each time. While the mysteries are always well-crafted, each one is better than the last. Having lived in Vermont, and now live in the North Country, I especially enjoy the familiar setting of these books. I first met Shana at the Clayton book store, and have enjoyed reading a book series set in our area that portrays it so swell.

I will say that I think it's time to give up the "Bram" story line. It worked well in the previous books as a continuing thread. But he is no longer here to torment Shana. I thought the story line where she thought an old case was linked to Bram and contacted a former co-worker to look into the case was out of place in the book. I found it more of an interruption to the flow of the investigation than interesting. Esp with the "twist" at the end., which seemed a bit contrived.

Overall, I enjoy this series very much and am looking forward to the next one. Thanks to NetGalley for this ACR opportunity.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

Easily my favorite of the series. Edge of your seat thriller, almost a locked room mystery considering the island setting. The wintry atmosphere is a character itself. There's enough background from earlier books that you could read this as a stand alone but you'd be missing out on a terrific series with one of my favorite characters. Fingers crossed, this isn't the last we'll see of Shana, Tim and company. Highly recommend.

This is Tessa Wegert’s sixth installment in her Shana Merchant series and I was excited to read this one early. I had read the first three books when they were first published, but it was getting more difficult to continue reading the series through my local libraries. Thankfully one of the libraries had the fourth and fifth books so I was able to read those and get caught up before tackling “The Coldest Case.”

This book was slightly different than the earlier ones. In this book, the present day case is intertwined with one Shana was investigating four years earlier. In present day, a social media influencer has gone missing on a remote island in upstate New York. It’s winter and fewer than 10 people are living on the island. As Shana and her team search for the missing man, the reader learns more about a Jane Doe who had been murdered four years ago.

While this book could, technically, be read as a standalone, I would highly recommend those unfamiliar with Shana or her history to go back and read the previous books. They provide background knowledge that will be useful when reading this book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and hope there’s another book in the series for us to catch up with Shana. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

A great conclusion to a great series! I can't wait to read more by Tessa Wegert. I especially love the book store. ;)

When a social media personality goes missing on a sparsely populated island in the middle of a mostly frozen Saint Lawrence River in the dead of winter, Shana Merchant suspects foul play. But a potential murderer on the loose is not the only danger. The remote location and the deadly nature of the frozen river all create their own threats. The case reminds Shana of a cold case from her past that she decides to revisit.

This is the 6th book in Wegert's Shana Merchant series, and it's my favorite yet. Wegert's plot and prose are as taut as ever. I could not put it down. But the way she weaves the cold case into the current case is incredibly satisfying. Buy this book. You won't be disappointed.

Thank you to Severn House Publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

I really enjoy this series. Wegert does a fantastic job bringing the Thousand Islands (an area I have visited on more than on occasion) to life. She manages to find unique ways to incorporate the small-town and even-smaller-island mentality to life in each book, capturing the unique nature of life up north, with a particular emphasis on the environmental challenges. I find this differentiates the series from a lot of other small-town police procedurals/mysteries. It adds an element of originality that I quite enjoy. I also enjoy watching Shana's world expand (and occasionally contract) as she grows into herself and continues to live with the aftermath of her past. This latest installment had a locked-room mystery feel, with a frozen island as the room, and it was eerie and cool at the same time, blending things you'd expect in a whodunit with the harsh realities of extreme weather, the relationship between social media and social isolation, and closed communities. It made for a unique and engaging story!

I loved this book!! The setting was so great, loved the character development. Now I need to read the rest of her books! Will definitely be recommending!

Well honestly I found this book extremely "cold", which I guess works well with its setting. Perhaps not having read any of the previous in the series was part of the problem? But I could not form a connection to the characters and found the writing style cumbersome.
I'll give it a few stars for thrill and action but I just couldn't get into this one (although, I have not read any of the others as mentioned and maybe that would have helped or at least had me ready for the writing).

This was interesting.
It was a bit slow for me in certain places but the overall story was good.
In some places it seemed like there was so much more detail than what was needed and others just kind of glossed over.

If you like in depth mysteries this will be a book you enjoy, I just personally wish it was a little faster paced.