Cold Comfort — Don Bredes

Propelled by fine writing and full-blooded characters, Cold Comfort is an intricate tale of murder and passion set in a deceptively peaceful, rural American locale.

Hector Bellevance has returned to his hometown in northern Vermont after a bruising tenure as a Boston cop destroyed his marriage. Once there, he reluctantly accepts the mostly honorary title of town constable, a job that has him enforcing dog ordinances and other local nuisance laws, until a violent double-murder sets a destructive series of events in motion.


A wealthy and attractive couple from Canada, recent newcomers to the town, are found shot execution-style in their fashionable home. Hector's half-brother Spud -- a down-to-earth dairy farmer and neighbor of the two -- finds the bodies shortly before the police discover that Spud and the wife were having an affair. With his brother tagged as suspect number one, Hector is forced to begin his own investigation into who wanted these people dead and why.

The search finds him keeping company with Wilma Strong-Parkhurst, a smart, sexy, outspoken reporter for the local paper, who knows more than she's telling. Together they uncover the unexpectedly dark underbelly of the town and its environs, which involves locally produced porn films, high-stakes real estate development, and drugs.

Critically acclaimed author Don Bredes spins a captivating story of lust, greed, and old-fashioned, time-honored American ingenuity.