The Cold Truth

Starred review from May 31, 1999
Winston "Bear" Edwards is a huge man. A sheriff for 30 years in Canaanville, a small town in upper New York State, he has become a police legend with no unsolved murders in his jurisdiction--until the savage stabbing death of a local waitress threatens to mar his record. Enter young, beautiful police academy trainee Julian Palmer, assigned at her own request as an intern to Edwards in an experimental program. From their first remarkable interview, when Edwards erupts in anger when he learns "Julian" is female, not male, the two are locked in a metaphorical embrace that's sometimes like combat, sometimes like a lover's clinch. Edwards is an unconventional police chief and Julian is appalled by some of his methods, yet intrigued by his results. Stone adds to their volatile mix a quirky psychic and Edwards's equally large and angry wife, Estelle; plus wintry blasts of wind and snow. What results is a stunning, risk-taking first novel that mystery fans will celebrate.