Cold to the Touch

Finished January 10

Cold to the Touch by Frances Fyfield

Fyfield is one of the queens of the psychological suspense novel and this one is no exception. The central character here is Sarah Fortune , a woman who has made a career out of helping men overcome a variety of issues and build relationships. This is the sixth book in the series featuring Sarah. Here she has a younger friend, Jessica, who she encounters one early morning in London and takes back to her flat. She tries to find out what is going on with Jessica, discovering only that Jessica had gone to the Smithfield meat market in hopes of meeting a man she has strong feelings for and ended up making a fool of herself. Jessica is a very spontaneous, emotional young woman, and when Sarah makes an offhand remark about wanting to leave London for a cottage near the sea, Jessica immediately seizes upon it, and arranges for Sarah to rent a house that Jessica's mother owns in the small village of Pennyvale, where Jessica grew up.

As Sarah enjoys the village, spending time walking through the countryside, watching the people, and the sea, she stays in touch with Jessica, and tries to find out why Jessica feels she can't come home, and also tries to advise Jessica about this mysterious man she can't seem to get over. Sarah hasn't yet engaged directly with Jessica's mother who seems to be a sad figure, unhappy and yet somehow still involved in many of the village goings on. 

When Jessica tells Sarah that she will come visit, and never arrives, Sarah must go back to London, looking for the clues for Jessica's fate, and trying to find her mystery man. 

Sarah is a very interesting character, a woman who is open-minded, intelligent, and kind. She seems to have good relationships with the men she's been involved with previously, and is attractive to men in general. She has good instincts, and pays attention to details. She is a good friend and cares about people. 

And yet she can also be ruthless when needed, and calculating. 

I really enjoyed both the characters here (Andrew the local vicar, and Jeremy the butcher's helper in particular in addition to Sarah) and found the plot quite intriguing. A great read.