Review: Freeze by Kate Simants

I personally think the claim of almost any new, ingenious crime novel to be The New Agatha Christie is over-used. I love Agatha Christie, and her stories have some very particular qualities. I do not generally approve of her usage as a shorthand to sell books.

However. Kate Simants’ latest novel, Freeze, is honestly deserving of the comparison. We have characters with deep, dark, and unexpected connections. Everyone is genuinely a suspect. Crimes are confused and confusing, with various motives crossing over to create an ingenious puzzle of a mystery. And while I wouldn’t perhaps call this cosy crime (especially considering its frigid location!), the crimes are relatively bloodless, and emphasis is on the mystery rather than the melodrama.

Simants does, however, bring these classic elements of crime to a totally new location. There is something timeless about the Arctic location, and again Christie-esque (think Death on the Nile) about the claustrophobia of strangers stuck together on a boat. At the same time, the story’s enciting mechanism of the reality TV show is firmly rooted in the 21st century. Yet another example of a neat meshing of classic storytelling with a celebrity culture twist.

In Freeze, Tori hopes to kickstart her stardom and production chops by launching reality TV show, Frozen Out, in which eight contestants compete to demonstrate their leadership techniques in the harshest conditions in the world. But the show seems scuppered from the start, with contestant drop-outs and budgeting corners cut. Everyone on board has secrets, and someone has murder in mind.

Freeze is perfect for fans of thrillers for our time, with the kinds of twists reminiscent of the golden age of crime.

Freeze by Kate Simants is out now, and can be purchased here.

With thanks to the publishers for providing and advance review copy.