A review by muddypuddle
Winter at the Door by Sarah Graves

3.0

You have to like the protagonist in order to like the book, usually, and I didn't like this protagonist. Lizzie Snow has quit her detective job on the Boston Police force to come to Bearkill, Maine to be some sort of deputy-side-kick to the long-time sheriff. Small town Aroostook County, way up in the willy wacks of Maine. She has an ulterior motive: to find her niece - her only living relative - who's been missing (abducted?) for the last eight-or-so years and for some reason Snow thinks she's in northern Maine. No backstory, no further information...... Her ex-boyfriend, another cop (and for me, another not-really-likable character), appears on her doorstep. One incongruous mishap leads to another; there's really no mystery because it's all laid out for you and what isn't is quite easy to figure out; and it all leads up to one trek through the woods in your typical blizzard and then many pages of "a week later" explanation, tying up all the leftover questions within a conversation or two. This appears to be the first in a series. Will I read another? Perhaps - I did like the setting very much....Graves, who lives in Maine, nailed that part of it as well as many of the characters you might run into.