Elly Griffiths delivers a thrilling blend of historical intrigue and crime fiction in The Frozen People, a book that kept me gripped from start to finish.

Ali Dawson and her cold case team specialise in solving crimes so old they are practically frozen in time. This is quite literal as they can travel back in time to uncover evidence. Their latest case takes an unexpected turn when they are tasked with investigating a murder from 1850, linked to a sinister group known as The Collectors. But when Ali finds herself trapped in Victorian London during a mini ice age, the past becomes more dangerous than she ever imagined. With another body at her feet and her son arrested, she must navigate a time of rigid social rules and hidden dangers to solve the mystery and find her way home.

Ali is a fantastic lead. She is sharp, determined and full of heart. Her love for her son and her cat adds a touching personal dimension, making her instantly likeable. The blend of past and present is expertly handled, with the Victorian setting brought vividly to life. Griffiths masterfully weaves historical detail with a gripping mystery, keeping the suspense high throughout.

This is a book that ticks all the right boxes. It has an intriguing premise, brilliant characters and a clever, well-executed plot. I cannot wait to see where Ali’s time-travelling investigations take her next. Fans of historical crime fiction with a unique twist will love this.

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Like many people I came to Elly Griffiths via the Dr Ruth Galloway series which I love with a passion. I confess that I keep looking for something of the same experience, but have really enjoyed the author’s other series as she is such an entertaining writer and consistently writes great plots. I am not a fan of time travel, though I read at least 2 time-travelling books last year, and was rather sceptical about the idea of time travel in a detective series. I was persuaded by one review to give this a try and I am really glad that I did.

I would encourage readers not to read too much about the plot in order to preserve the element of surprise and to avoid making assumptions. The main character Ali is policewoman working on a special project involving time travel. Her son, Finn, works for a government minister. Whilst Ali travels back to the past, her son’s boss is murdered and Finn is arrested. How can Ally save her son, and do the answers lie in the past?

Firstly, Ali is a great character. She’s in her 50’s with striking red hair, several marriages behind her, and living with her cat. I look forward to discovering more about her in future series. I liked her. What I particularly enjoyed, was the level of detail Griffiths included in the scenes in Victorian London. Just like Ali in the book, the writer clearly did a huge amount of research. I loved all the practical details - using the toilet, eating, travelling. There was so much here that I had never contemplated and it really made the history come alive. I loved that the time travel aspect itself was in its early phases. This added to the sense of danger and vulnerability. Not only were we worried about someone being murdered, we were worried about whether they would get back to the present!

This is a really entertaining, fast paced and thoroughly original novel and I was totally won over to the idea of a time travelling detective.

With many thanks to Netgalley and Quercus for my digital copy.

The Frozen People is the first in a new series, the Ali Dawson Mysteries, by Elly Griffiths. It’s not like her other books, but it’s still a murder mystery. Ali is fifty, a Detective Sergeant in a cold case team that investigates crimes in a unique way – by travelling back in time, physically, to do their research and interview the witnesses. You do need to suspend your disbelief but that wasn’t hard for me to do, as Elly Griffiths is an excellent storyteller.

I can’t say I understood how Serafina Jones, a physicist has developed a way of moving atoms in space. There are no concrete details about how it’s achieved and it’s all a bit vague. Jones explains it by saying it’s as if you create a space and then fill it with that exact person. The team calls it ‘going through the gate’. No matter, I never understood how Captain James T Kirk and his crew travelled through time and space in Star Trek, but I still loved it. And just as in Star Trek, Ali and her team are instructed not to interfere with historical events, and are required to maintain the timeline, to prevent history from being altered.

Ali and her colleague, Dina, have made a few trips back in time to collect evidence, but for their current case Ali has to go back in time further than she has gone before – to 1850, to the time and place when Ettie Moran, an artist’s model was murdered. She was found in a building used by artists owned by Cain Templeton, an influential man, who was a suspect, although he was never charged with the murder. He was part of a club called The Collectors. To be a member you had to have killed a woman. Cain’s great great grandson, Isaac, the MP Finn works, for is the Secretary of State for Justice and he wants to clear Cain’s name. So, Ali is assigned to the case. So far, so good. But it all starts to go wrong when Ali finds that she can’t get back to the present day it’s her biggest fear. She is stuck in 1850!

I was quickly drawn into this absorbing story. It’s a combination of two genres I love, crime fiction and historical fiction. The main characters come over as real people, the historical facts and the setting are detailed and convincing. And the plot held me captivated throughout.

I’m looking forward to reading more Ali Dawson books in the future

Having enjoyed Elly Griffiths’s previous series I wasn’t sure if I would like this novel as much. Shouldn’t have worried, characters were excellent, story moved along well. Really enjoyed this new novel and will look forward to further work from Elly.

I’m incredibly fussy about time travel novels, so I was holding my breath with this one, but I should have known we were in safe hands - like all Griffiths’ crime fiction this book leads on characterisation and has a cracking murder plot at its core.

I particularly liked the nods to Victorian Literature and literary tropes and, of course, I loved the lead detective. Ali Dawson is fab.

Thanks to Quercus and NetGalley for the eARC.

Time travelling, cold case detectives what’s not to love? Elly Griffiths has penned another terrific new series for her avid readers with the introduction of The Frozen People. Great title too! An under the radar cold case team, a high profile politician and a journey back to the 1850s makes for an intriguing tale. The characterisation is, as always, tremendous and Ali, in particular, is very engaging and believable. The story is fast paced and full of humour too. I can’t wait to read the sequel. Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for the eARC.

Ali is a police officer working in a highly secret team, they investigate cold cases from the past through time travel. At the request of a politician Ali is sent to 1850 to look into an accusation against the man's ancestor but she becomes trapped and realises that a murderer has been sent from 1850 to 2024. Ali is desperate to return to the present and, whilst she is trapped, her son is arrested fro the murder of his employer, the politician.
I have to say that if it wasn't for the fact that this book is written by Elly Griffiths, I wouldn't have touched it, I dislike science fiction so much! However this is an Elly Griffiths book and the preposterous plot is transformed into a gripping and personable police procedural by her trademark warmth and characterisation. In fact, by the end I was really pleased that the door had been left open for further episodes in the series, so invested was I as a reader.

When I learned that The Frozen People was about a team who investigates cold cases by going back in time, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but years of reading the Ruth Galloway series have taught me that you can’t ever go wrong with a Elly Griffiths novel, so I was quite intrigued.

At the heart of the story there is a secret team of detectives, tech geniuses, and scientists, so secret that only a few people in the high places of the government know about it, and they can travel back in time to find evidence for their cases. The protagonist, Ali Dawson, has already travelled back in time a few times, but, on this occasion, she is asked to go all the way back to Victorian England in 1850. The mission is to find out more about a series of murders happening at the time that could be linked to a mysterious group called “The Collectors” and one of its members is an ancestor of an important MP. And while Ali is stuck in a freezing Victorian winter, in the present time, another murder puts her son in prison. Will Ali be able to return and prove his innocence?

The Frozen People is such a fantastic and engaging read. It’s atmospheric and sinister and I love the dual time perspective: when we were in the past I couldn’t wait to return to the present to see what was going on and vice versa. Ali is an amazing protagonist. Throughout the novel, we learn about her past, how she moved to London and raised a child on her own as a young single mother, while working and going to university, we learn about her three ex husbands and how she entered the police force. Ali is independent, brave, and sassy, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for her!

I've never read any of Elly Griffiths' books before, but this one had me hooked.

There are so many twists and turns that you can never quite place where the story is headed, but nothing feels shoehorned in.

My only negative is that I felt the ending was a little rushed, and it feels like the 1850s storyline is incomplete—but here's hoping that there is a follow-up story to continue the adventures of Ali and the team.


Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for providing me with a copy of this title. All opinions are my own.

My very first Elly Griffiths and certainly not my last. This book was amazing, I loved the historical element and the amazing cast of characters in the present day. I do wish we had got a bit more into the time travel and how it had worked previous but that’s just a minor criticism

A new Elly Griffiths book is a joy to behold and whilst many will yearn for Ruth Galloway, here they will find a whole new cast of characters to engage with and enjoy. Investigating past mysteries is one thing but with the time travelling capabilities making it easier - I know written down it looks odd and in the hands of a lesser writer would be a recipe for disaster but Griffiths pulls off an exciting story which draws the reader in.

A recommended read.

I would like to read a cross-story featuring Ali and Max from The Chronicles of St. Mary's. That said this has the potential to become on my favourite time travel series along with the Chronicles.
A clever and strong main characters, sharp social remarks, great descriptions of London.
As it's the first in a series I think that my question will be answered in next novels, the mystery was brilliant and kept me guessing.
Ms Griffith delivers and the excellent storytelling kept me hooked.
4.5 upped to 5
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Ali Dawson’s work as a cold case investigator is very different from the usual police procedural as uniquely she uses time travel to discover more about certain unsolved crimes. The concept of being able to go back to a specific moment in time in order to solve a ‘cold’ case is an intriguing premise for a novel as it successfully brings both crime and history together.

In order to clear the name of a modern day MP’s great-grandfather, Ali is transported back to Victorian London where she has only a short time to gather enough evidence to prove either guilt or innocence however, the situation goes slightly awry, and Ali becomes stuck in 1850 with only her wits to keep her safe. The time travel aspect is cleverly done, totally believable and written with such fine attention to historical detail that I have successfully navigated Victorian London and shared Ali’s curiosity as she walked the teeming streets of the East End. There’s also a modern day mystery to solve which introduces us to Ali’s son, Finn, in a development of the story which sits comfortably alongside the historical aspect and as neither timeframe seeks to outshine the other, both are equally enjoyable.

Skilfully written, and with fine attention to every detail, The Frozen People really captured my imagination. I would love to think that this is just the first book in what could turn out to be another successful series which brings Ali Dawson back in another time travel mystery.

Ooh, I've always loved Elly Griffiths, and this one was a bold step into the topic of time travel! I wasn't sure what to expect but the recipe definitely worked! The world-building was interesting, and the promise of a slow-burn romance (a la Ruth and Nelson) has me definitely waiting for the next book in the series!

Bestselling author Elly Griffiths adds a supernatural twist to her newest crime fiction series featuring Ali Dawson, beginning with The Frozen People.

Detective Sergeant Ali Dawson is one of five members of the Department of Logistics. Their remit involves the investigation of cold cases, but only a handful of people know that since 2020 they do so by travelling back in time.

At the request of Tory MP and Prime Minister hopeful Isaac Templeton, Ali is tasked with travelling to 1850 to clear his great-great-grandfather of suspicion in the murder of three women. A wealthy patron of the arts, it was rumoured that Cain Templeton belonged to an exclusive club known as The Collectors, whose price of admission was the murder of a woman.

It will be the most ambitious time leap yet for the team but ‘Jones’, the gifted mastermind of the process is certain it can be done. Except something goes wrong and Ali finds herself stuck in 1850.

Ali is an appealing character, feisty, smart and resourceful. Aged 50 she has dyed fire-engine red hair, a nose-ring and a haughty Siamese cat named Terry. Currently single, she’s been married three times, but was essentially a single mother while raising her son, Finn, now a Ministerial Special Advisor. As a very modern woman Ali doesn’t find it easy to blend into 1850, though her first-class honours History degree, earned while cleaning homes and office spaces, helps a little.

Led by Geoff, the Department also includes John, who is a highly regarded homicide detective with somewhat fragile mental health, Dina is the computer expert, and Bud, a civilian physicist. I would have liked to learn a bit more about the ‘Frozen People’ team and its activities prior to this jump, but to be fair it probably would have made the story over-long and unwieldy.

While Ali is in the past learning more about Cain Templeton, The Collectors Club and the deaths of two women, there is a murder in the present. The police are quick to make an arrest but something definitely doesn’t add up, and when Ali eventually returns to her time she’s determined to prove it. I enjoyed the challenge of solving that mystery and honestly wasn’t certain who was responsible until just before it was revealed.

The Frozen People is an engaging read, and worth finding the time to read it. I’m not sure what to expect of the next instalment of this series since several threads are left open at the end of this book that indicate the Templeton case isn’t closed just yet.

I guess that it’s always a little scary when an established and popular writer tries something new: after all, there’s not that many that manage it successfully. (Stephen King is perhaps my most obvious example.)

But it can be done; and if the writer is both experienced and skilled in prose-wrangling, then it should be good, shouldn’t it? The trick is whether the writer can persuade her loyal readers to take the journey with them. (It’s not for nothing that Stephen King often refers to his loyal readers as being a “Constant Reader”.)

With this in mind I was intrigued to receive for review the latest novel by Elly Griffiths, a very successful crime novelist and who has had published, by my approximate reckoning at the time of typing, at least 30 novels to date. Her Ruth Galloway novels in particular have been Sunday Times Bestsellers.

You might therefore expect this to be another crime novel. And so it is, but with one major difference – this time the story involves time travel.

It is 2023. Alison (Ali) Dawson is a detective working in The Department of Logistics. With her boss Geoff Bastian and super-scientist Serafina Jones, the inventor of the means of time travel, they are developing a means of solving cold cases through time travel – “so cold they are frozen” one character explains.

Although working for the government, this, of course, is all hush-hush. The prime minister doesn’t know about them, although the justice minister Isaac Templeton has been recently made aware of the Department’s work.

His response is to request that Ali go back to 1850 and discover whether Templeton’s great-great-grandfather, Cain Templeton, is a murderer. There have been accusations made that Cain was responsible for the death of Ettie Moran, an artist’s model staying at a house owned by Cain. Isaac, who is in the process of writing a book, wants to clear his ancestor’s name, as he feels that Cain was innocent.

Obviously, there are constraints. We can only go back, not forward (ie: after 2023.) It is mentioned early-on that events in the past don’t seem to affect the future, although it is early days in this time travel process. Just in case, the Department has a charter: Watch, Bear Witness, Don’t Interact, Stay Safe.

Up to now this has not been an issue. Earlier forays into the near past have meant that the Department have usually been like ghosts – felt as a presence, and if seen as something flimsy and ephemeral. This changes when Ali goes back to 1850, because – well, y’know, upgrades.

What Griffiths does well here is create a team that’s diverse in age, race and sexuality, although the focus is pretty much upon the characterisation of Ali. I understand that Griffiths’ portrayal of single mothers in a fulltime working environment is a common characteristic of her work, and if so, she plays to her strengths here. (I’m also reminded of Phil Rickman’s Merrily Watkins here too.)

Ali’s rebellious no-nonsense attitude is to be admired, and as the survivor of three marriages with a young adult as a son, holding down a complex job, I suspect that she may be quickly taken to heart by readers.

By comparison, the other characters, apart from Ali’s son Finn, are pretty standard and barely developed. They are not the point here. When there are complications that occur in the past and a murder happens in modern times resulting in Finn being arrested as a suspect, generally they appear to be there mainly to support. I suspect that we may find more about them as other books are written. (And yes, I have no doubt that there will be more.)

The contrast between the worlds of 1850 and 2023 is well done, in particular. There’s some nice comparisons between the ages in both the locations (same places, different times) as well as differences in society, between life as a woman now compared with that of 1850, when the patriarchy was dominant. “You’re a white middle-aged woman…you won’t stand out so much” one character says to Ali at one point. It reads great – there’s lots of cultural references, side jokes and cultural points that make it seem real and nicely relatable.

Things do appear to happen very quickly at the beginning, as it seems that after only a few days of research and preparation, Ali is whisked off to 1850. The parts following a murder investigation in the near-present are perhaps the book’s strongest part, clearly something the author feels comfortable with, even when the usual procedures are conveniently stretched a little.

The science-y bit is rather general and timey-wimey. We’re not given too much detail, with Jones, the supremo-scientist and inventor often explaining things in a dumbed-down version, because basically (and perhaps conveniently) you won’t understand it.

However, the plot at the end, and especially the ending, didn’t quite work for me. The perpetrator of the modern crime did not seem logical to me, nor their motive particularly strong, although I do accept that in crimes, is the villain usually logical? There were loose ends, an important character doing something that really shouldn’t happen in the last few pages and a big cliffhanger that felt a little convenient – aren’t crime novels supposed to tie everything up at the end? – which will no doubt be continued in the next novel. Others may be less critical.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading The Frozen People. The premise isn’t new (I’d recommend Connie Willis’s Doomsday Book, Christopher Fowler’s Bryant and May books, Jodi Taylor’s St. Mary’s series and the TV shows Life on Mars and even Crime Traveller from 1997 should you want to explore further) but the time travel idea is done here with verve and panache, enough for me to forgive the elements I thought didn’t quite work.

I’d be very interested to read what more regular readers of Griffiths’s work think about the book. If its purpose is to get her usual readers to like something a little different, then I think it will work. I see it as an SF book for those who don’t normally read SF. The Frozen People is a good effort, a brave start to a new series and one which, when it settles down, I think will be very much liked. I would like to read more in the future. (ha!)

This story is right up my street – a whodunit with time travel – and I was quickly absorbed. The author has a nice, easy style of writing with added humour. She also does a great job of making the incredible, credible. (Time travel is impossible.) (Isn't it?) I particularly enjoyed how the main character had to learn how to fit in and cope with the difficulties of someone from modern times living in 1850. And the quirky twists of clues turning up from the past were really clever.

I'm looking forward to the next Ali Dawson book.

Time travelling cops for adults? How is she going to do that? Elly Griffiths you not only did it, you smashed it and this is the first in a series I a m already hooked on!

The Frozen People is a departure from the crime fiction I've read previously from Elly Griffiths, being a time-travel mystery. I went in cold, having not realised that, but wasn't disappointed in any way. What a breath of fresh air, with all the excellence of Griffith's writing and characterisation, but a new idea. Absolutely loved it.

Time travel, is it possible ? A real departure from the usual Elly Griffiths novels or is it? A cold case crime, government minister, a murder and London in 1850. I couldn’t put it down