Cold Breath

'Superior crime fiction set in Iceland' The Times

'As chilling as an Icelandic winter' S. J. Bolton

Hidden away in a secure house outside Reykjavík, Detective Gunna and a high-profile stranger, a guest of the interiors minister, are thrown together - too close for comfort.

They soon find they are neither as safe nor as carefully hidden as Gunna and her boss had thought. Conflicting glimpses of the man's past start to emerge as the press begin to sniff him out, as does another group with their own reasons for locating him.

Gunna struggles to come to terms with protecting the life of a man who may have the lives of many on his conscience - or indeed may be the philanthropist he claims to be.

Isolated together, the friction grows between Gunna and the foreign visitor, and she realises they are out of their depth as the trails lead from the house outside Reykjavík to Brussels, Russia and the Middle East.

The sixth dark and atmospheric thriller in Quentin Bates's Icelandic crime series. A chilling page-turner perfect for fans of Jo Nesbo, Henning Mankell and Søren Sveistrup's The Chestnut Man.

Praise for Quentin Bates:

'A great read - leaves you craving the next installment' Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

'A perfect book to curl up with in front of the fire' The Bookbag

'Well written and absorbing' Woman's Way

'Captures the chilly spirit of Nordic crime fiction . . . Fans of Arnaldur Indridason's Reykjavík mysteries will want to add Bates to their reading lists' Booklist

'[A] crackling fiction debut . . . palpable authenticity' Publishers Weekly

'A superb new series' Eurocrime