Acclaimed by peers and critics alike, winner of the British Crime Writers Macallan Silver Dagger for Forty Words for Sorrow, Giles Blunt delivers a second thrilling mystery featuring Detective John Cardinal. When the corpse of an American tourist turns up half-eaten by bears near Algonquin Bay, Detective John Cardinal is put on the case. But what at first appears to be a simple homicide quickly becomes complicated by others deceit. And when an Algonquin Bay resident is found murdered in the same woods, Cardinal realizes that there may be more to this case than he first believed. With his authority on the investigation constantly challenged, Cardinal finds that he must band together with a former nemesis, Corporal Malcolm Musgrave of the RCMP, to outwit a common enemy. At the same time, working side by side with the beautiful and strong-willed Detective Lise Delorme, Cardinal begins to suspect his feelings for Delorme go beyond the professional. As tensions escalate in the town, a relentless ice storm slows the hunt and throws Algonquin Bay into darkness. Against orders, and risking life and career, Cardinal digs deeper into the seemingly small-town murder. And when he does, he uncovers a series of lies and conspiracies that go back nearly thirty years and extend to the highest reaches of Canadian intelligence.