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    A Cold Day in Paradise
    A Cold Day in Paradise
    A Cold Day in Paradise
    Audiobook7 hours

    A Cold Day in Paradise

    Written by Steve Hamilton

    Narrated by Dan John Miller

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Other than the bullet lodged less than a centimeter from his heart, former Detroit police officer Alex McKnight thought he had put the nightmare of his partner’s death and his own near-fatal injury behind him. After all, Maximilian Rose, convicted of the crimes has been locked in the state pen for years. But in the small town of Paradise, Michigan, where McKnight has traded his badge for a cozy cabin in the woods, a murderer with Rose’s unmistakable trademarks appears to be back to his killing ways. With Rose locked away, McKnight can’t understand who else would know the intimate details of the old murders—not to mention the signature blood-red rose left on his doorstep. And it seems like it’ll be a frozen day in Hell before McKnight can unravel the cold truth from a deadly deception in a town that’s anything but paradise.

    "Chilling as the November wind. A must for PI and suspense fans." —Charles Todd, author of Wings of Fire

    "Hamilton combines clear, crisp writing, wily, colorful characters and an offbeat locale (Michigan's Upper Peninsula) in an impressive debut. …This book won the Private Eye Writers of America/St. Martin's Press Award for Best First Private Eye Novel of 1997." —Publishers Weekly

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateFeb 1, 2010
    ISBN9781441817440
    A Cold Day in Paradise
    Author

    Steve Hamilton

    Steve Hamilton was born and raised in Detroit, and graduated from the University of Michigan where he won the prestigious Hopwood Award for fiction. In 2006, he won the Michigan Author Award for his outstanding body of work. His novels have won numerous awards and media acclaim beginning with the very first in the Alex McKnight series, A Cold Day in Paradise, which won the Private Eye Writers of America/St. Martin's Press Award for Best First Mystery by an Unpublished Writer. Once published, it went on to win the MWA Edgar and the PWA Shamus Awards for Best First Novel, and was short-listed for the Anthony and Barry Awards. His book The Lock Artist is the winner of the 2011 Edgar Award for Best Novel. Hamilton currently works for IBM in upstate New York where he lives with his wife Julia and their two children.

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    Reviews for A Cold Day in Paradise

    3.5/5

    329 ratings23 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I read this book because I sort of liked "The Second Life of Nick Mason", but the second book in that series was pretty ridiculous. That should have been a warning to me, however I was lured in by the fact that "A Cold Day in Paradise" won an Edgar Award. 1999 must have been a bad year for mysteries. Alex McKnight was a cliched ex-cop turned PI, the dialogue was poor, characters were cardboard and the plot was preposterous.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      If you love Michigan, you will enjoy Steve Hamilton’s books. Whether it’s the UP or driving down to Detroit on 75, he really gets a Michigander going with a crime scene. GREAT characters and you’ll be asking for more!
    • 5/5
      Great story about a former policeman who was trying to be a private investigator but was clueless about things happening around him .
    • 3/5
      New series. New-found author. I enjoyed this first book, and looking forward to the other.
    • 5/5
      Alex McKnight retired from the Detroit police department after he and his partner were shot. His partner died and Alex still has a bullet near his heart. Now living in the small Michigan burg of Paradise, the mad man who shot his is after him again. But, how is that possible since the mad man is in prison serving life with no chance of parole?
    • 4/5
      Having met Steve Hamilton at an author event at my local independent bookstore, I knew I would have to read one of his books. There's a lot to like about A Cold Day in Paradise, and I can see why it won the awards it did. The setting is excellent and really gives readers a feel for life in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The writing is marvelous, too, and really pulled me into the story as well as leaving me with several quotes that are stuck in my mind. (How about the one describing the man who left a bullet next to McKnight's heart? "I looked into his eyes. It was like looking down a mine shaft and seeing all the way down to hell.") The scene describing McKnight and his partner getting shot is particularly gripping.I also liked the mystery. It's complex and certainly not easy to solve, although if you tend to be a reader who insists that all loose ends are tied up, the resolution may not be quite your cup of tea.As I said, there's a lot to like about A Cold Day in Paradise. My problem is... I never really warmed up to Alex McKnight. To me, he's a bit of a wuss, and my opinion began to be formed when he and his partner were still alive. Of course, I have to be honest and admit that I have no earthly clue how I would react under the exact same trauma, but in all fairness, my feelings do not center completely on McKnight and his bullet. I won't go into detail because I want to avoid spoilers.Since I'm not entirely sure that I want to read another McKnight mystery, I think the next Steve Hamilton novel I will read will be The Lock Artist. I look forward to it. The man knows how to write.
    • 4/5
      Good effort, rather simple story.
    • 4/5
      Once Alex was a policeman in Detroit. Then he got shot, leaving one of the bullets close to his heart and he retired to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, close to the lake and tending the cabins that his father built once upon a time. Somewhere along the line, he got convinced to work as an investigator for a lawyer, making the previous investigator a bit unhappy. Despite that, things are going just fine - until a body shows up. It would have been a regular case for the police except that some of the clues point to a man that is in jail. A second body and even more clues in the same direction make the police actually look at Alex (not surprising - almost a standard for a start of a PI series). But despite being expected, it works - the story is different enough, the backstory is fascinating. And the sense of the locale is handled masterfully. It takes a while for the story to start pointing to what really happened and when it does, it took me by surprise. But looking back it is logical and it works. It is a good start of a series and Alex is a fascinating character. However - the end allows for it to have remained a standalone. And I want to see how Hamilton will continue the series.
    • 4/5
      This first of Steve Hamilton's Alex McKnight series is a well-done book. There's great emotional truth to all the characters, and Hamilton exercises restraint in his hero's musings, as well as in the overall portrayal of a man haunted by his perceived failures. Nothing is predictable and all the characters are fully-drawn, particularly the mad and pathetic Rose. In one brief climactic confrontation between McKnight and Rose, the frustration and anger of a rational mind coming up hard against an irrational one has powerful resonance. Anyone who's ever tried to reason with someone unreasonable will sympathize with McKnight's helplessness and outrage at being unable to communicate on any "normal" level. Filled with surprising twists, a lot of tension, and a splendid depiction of life in a cold zone, this is a well-crafted book with a likable, very human cast. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      For most of the book, I was thinking 3 starts. About 3/4 of the way through, it went to 4 starts. The last chapter pushed it to 5 stars.

      There is a good, steady level of suspense and intrigue throughout, but it really escalates as you get to the end. I will definitely be continuing with this series.
    • 3/5
      Alex McKnight was a Detroit cop until a crazy man shot him and his partner. His partner died, and McKnight still has a bullet lodged next to his heart. On permanent disability, McKnight makes his home in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in one of several rustic cabins he inherited from his father. Lately he's been working as a private investigator for a local lawyer. When his best friend discovers a murdered bookmaker, McKnight sets out to clear him of suspicion. A second murdered bookmaker makes things more difficult, particularly when a trail of clues points to the man who shot McKnight and his partner 14 years earlier. There's just one problem. The man is in a maximum security prison. Or is he?I like this novel's strong sense of place near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. I'm not really a fan of the private eye genre of crime fiction. Although this book won awards for a first novel, it's just so-so. I could tell where the plot was heading well before the end, and there were a couple of lengthy information dumps. I'm not sorry I listened to this one, but I doubt I'll continue with this series.
    • 3/5
      A Cold Day in Paradise is a nicely put-together debut with enough nods to the genre to feel comfortable, but enough originality to keep you reading. Alex McKnight is a retired cop playing PI on the shores of Lake Superior, but when a corpse turns up and a very familiar note arrives, he is forced to confront the most traumatic event of his life. This book isn't the most original thing going, but Hamilton does several things which elevated it above average for me. Firstly, he doesn't waste time with too much of the establishment stuff you often see in first novels and series debuts. McKnight doesn't just pop into the town of Paradise without any relationships or back-story; when the novel begins he already has several complicated relationships and a busy schedule. Secondly, Hamilton deals nicely with aspects of post-traumatic stress and general fear very well I thought. McKnight isn't some superman inured to violence and hellbent on revenge - the events that forced him to retire from the police, *forced him to retire*. This is a man who has had something terrible happen to him and doesn't show the rubbery resilience we're so accustomed to seeing in crime novels. Nor has his life been a catalogue of intense and violent encounters, making him an expert in firearms, shootings and other novelistic cliches.This humanity makes for a sympathetic, human and interesting protagonist, though I will say the general plot is not quite so well constructed. Though I was guessing until the end, I felt the conclusion was a little silly and the characters deserved better - it was more in line with what this genre typically pitches at; maniacs, twists and Deaver-like nonsense. However, based on the strength of character and setting, I would read another Hamilton book. Quite strong for a first novel.
    • 4/5
      I have always loved mystery/ Suspense/ Thrillers/ Detective Novels. I collect vintage pulps and detective novels, read all kinds of mysteries,and consider this genre in all it's various forms and sub-genres, my favorite reading material. So, I considered myself fairly knowledgeable about this genre. Wrong! I know nothing. I found out about Steve Hamilton only recently. I have no idea how this author and the Alex McKnight series flew under my radar, but it did. ( Which is more than a little embarrassing) But, better late, than never right? Alex was a cop for eight years, then was shot and his partner killed. The suspect was caught and sent to prison. Alex retired on disablity and moved to Paradise. Now, fourteen years later, it looks like a string of murders in being committed by the man that shot Alex. The problem is the guy is in prison.For two weeks out of Alex's life he: relives the shooting, deals with three murders, one of which was a good friend, feelings for a woman and former lover, a man that blames Alex for taking his job, and a local police chief that hates Alex. I really enjoyed this first Alex McKnight novel. The author knew his locale well. Alex is not the wise- cracking, know it all detective type. Instead, he is a flawed character that blames himself for everything that has taken place before. It is hard, I am sure, to develop a charcter in a detective novel and stay original. But, I didn't think Alex fell into any particular mold or became a cliche'. I enjoyed the more modern "hardboiled" tone of this novel and am looking forward to the next book in this series. A all the way!
    • 4/5
      An excellent PI novel where Hamilton not only comes up with a suspense filled tale but also able to bring forth the environment of small city Paradise authentically.
    • 4/5
      Good little mystery, cranked right along.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed the setting and the idea of McKnight looking after hunting cabins in the Upper Peninsula, and the Detroit connection was welcome. But the way the plot was supposed to unfold was a little unlikely. The confrontation with the police chief was fun. I will give the series a chance.
    • 3/5
      It's an okay story. It's a bit unrealistic, and the main character is more wimpy (PTSD sufferer) than I like my main characters to be. Especially when I'm looking for a series to replace Child's Reacher. This certainly doesn't do it because, while there is some violence, none of it is instigated by the protagonist, mostly it's done to him or around him and he just investigates it.And any solving that is done is all done behind the scenes and explained to the reader at the very end of the book. There are no "clues" that one could go back to find to figure it out on their own.All in all, it's okay, and I'll read another in the series to see if Alex grows a pair of his own.
    • 4/5
      The first Alex McKnight PI book. Mixed feelings about this one. My main problems came with McKnight himself. I didn't like him. He didn't seem to have any spark of detective talent to set himself ahead of the guy in the street. In a profession that relies heavily on talking to people and reading their motivations and veracity, McKnight bludgeons his way through most of his conversations. In fact quite a lot of the dialogue in the book is two people being incredibly obdurate with each other. He seems to antagonise or provoke everybody he meets. The characters didn't grab me throughout unless you count McKnight's sacked predecessor Prudell in two too short scenes. I enjoyed the location: Michigan Upper Peninsula. I generally prefer books set in the more northern reaches of the states. Maybe it's easier for me to identify with the weather condition or maybe I just like reading about people who are colder and wetter than me tucked up in the warm with a hot drink. The writing was an easy read and the supposedly uncomplicated mystery had pleasing hidden depths. Not too bad for a first effort but I hope if I persist with the series that McKnight grows on me.
    • 3/5
      This fits fairly well into the noir genre--first person, a private detective who gets involved with The Wrong Woman (tm)--beautiful and rich. This one is set in a cold Michigan November. Alex McNight, a private investigator and former Detroit cop, has a bullet permanently lodged one inch from his heart from the same shooting that killed his partner. It's 14 years later, and that shooting still haunts Alex. Now Alex is getting notes from a man claiming credit for two murders--and giving details only the shooter should know and signing his name--despite the shooter being locked up in prison. The story is told in a fairly spare, yet smooth style that conveys a great sense of place. I liked Alex and the secondary characters that helped create a sense of Paradise, Michigan. It was well-paced, at times suspenseful novel I read in one sitting. The problem I had was with the resolution. Some aspects of the twist was clever and worked for me and I didn't see it coming. Others--primarily motivation--just didn't work for me. I couldn't see these people acting the way they did, taking the risks they did, for the reasons given, and I had a problem with Alex's decision about how to act on his knowledge. All in all, I felt dissatisfied with the ending.
    • 4/5
      Alex McKnight, a Detroit cop turned PI, now living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, is encountering his past - the past that pushed him up north in the first place. After being shot three times and his partner being killed, McKnight successfully locked the assailant away for life. However, somehow he is killing people again and leaving letters for McKnight. But, how can this be? The murderer is in jail!It's not very often that I have the opportunity to read a fictional series that is set in my home state, so that aspect was so much fun. I was either familiar with, visited or recognized every area McKnight traveled through. That certainly added to my enjoyment.In general, I thought this had a very good plot. While reading there were a couple times that I didn't necessarily care for the style in which details were explained, but in the long run I realized the purpose. Also, I figured out a major part of the mystery early on, but not all of it, so there were still some surprises. I do want to learn more about McKnight. He's not a solid character, and there's a trait that I do not like, but I suppose that's what creates some curiosity. I'm definitely interested in seeking out the 2nd in this series, so for now, it worked.Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy
    • 4/5
      A quick and suspenseful first novel in a series featuring Alex McKnight, a former cop in Detroit, now a P.I. in the wilds of upper Michigan. Alex is a man on the edge, living with the memories of his partner's death. Even after fourteen years, they cause him to nearly come undone as he tries to protect a dear friend and solve some murders that seem to be related to the locked up killer of his partner. The tension is ratched up and the reader shares it. Alex's fear is well written and realistic, as is his occasional self-loathing and doubt. There are gaps in his life that I wonder about and hope will be filled in as the series continues.
    • 4/5
      This was a winner of the Edgar and the Shamus Award for best first novel. Alex McKnight is an ex-police officer from Detroit. He retired from the force after being shot three times, with one bullet still lodged next to his heart. He went to Paradise, Michigan, to get away, but ends up being talked into what should be some light duty P.I. work. Two dead bodies later, he comes face to face with evidence pointing to the same man who shot him, but he's been locked in a maximum security prison for years. This is a very good book, with some interesting new characters, as well as some character types you will be familiar with. It is a very quick read, pulling you along with suspense and delivering a few surprises along the way. I will definitely add Steve Hamilton to my list of must read mystery/detective authors.
    • 3/5
      Former police officer Alex McKnight thought he had put the nightmare of his partner's death behind him when he moved to Paradise, Michigan. Rose, the man convicted of the killing, is behind bars, so how can murders bearing his unmistakable trademarks be occurring in Paradise?