Frozen Arcana: The Assiniboine Deception
Winnipeg, 1940. The river is frozen solid. The truth is buried deeper.
For fans of atmospheric historical noir and the gritty suspense of Babylon Berlin, comes a thriller where the only thing deadlier than the prairie winter is the secret hiding in plain sight.
New Year's Eve, 1939. As a wind shrieks down Portage Avenue, the city's elite celebrate the end of a decade inside the warm, gilded mansions of Armstrong Point. But outside, on the frozen ice of the Assiniboine River, the party is over.
A high-profile corporate lawyer is found dead beneath the Maryland Bridge. It looks like a robbery gone wrong, until Detective Constable Gabriel O'Malley finds the killer's calling card tucked into the victim's pocket: The Fool, a card from an antique Tarot deck.
The cards are being dealt. The game is rigged.
O'Malley is an outcast in his own department-labeled a "War Baby" for not enlisting, he fights a lonely battle on the home front. When a second body appears in a railyard boxcar, pinned with another card-The Tower-O'Malley realizes he is hunting a killer who sees murder as a ritual.
To break the code, he must turn to the one person the law ignores: Olena Petrenko, a North End "witch" who claims the cards aren't just paper, but a map of a coming catastrophe.
The Magician holds the key.
The trail leads O'Malley to the doorstep of Elias Vance, a wealthy American industrialist who has arrived in Winnipeg with unlimited cash and a mysterious construction project deep beneath his fortress-like home. Vance claims he is building a bomb shelter for the coming war, but O'Malley suspects the tunnel is meant for something-or someone-far more dangerous.
As the temperature drops to thirty below, O'Malley and Petrenko must race to stop a grand design that threatens to turn the city into a sanctuary for a darkness no one sees coming.
In a city of ice, silence is the only witness.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A masterclass in atmospheric noir. I'm still shivering The author doesn't just describe 1940s Winnipeg; they drop you right into the deep freeze. You can practically feel the minus-thirty wind biting your face and hear the snow crunching under Gabriel O'Malley's boots. The setting is a character in itself-brutal, unforgiving, and perfectly suited for this dark tale of murder and mysticism. The contrast between the wealthy, champagne-sipping elite of Armstrong Point and the desperate, frozen reality of the North End adds a layer of social grit. If you like historical thrillers that transport you completely, this is the one."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ O'Malley and Petrenko are my new favorite crime-fighting duo. "The chemistry in this book is fantastic. On one side, you have Gabriel O'Malley, a 'War Baby' detective riddled with Catholic guilt and struggling with his place in a world at war. On the other, Olena Petrenko, a fierce Ukrainian 'witch' who reads Tarot cards like they are military intel. The scene in St. Boniface Cathedral where they compare his rosary to her crystals was beautifully written and surprisingly poignant. I can't wait for the next book "
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Tarot-fueled conspiracy that keeps you guessing until the end. "I'm usually skeptical of 'occult' mysteries, but Frozen Arcana grounds the supernatural elements in a terrifying psychological reality. The killer doesn't just leave cards; he uses the Major Arcana-The Fool, The Tower, The Devil-to stage elaborate, gruesome crime scenes that fit the victims' 'sins'. It's creepy, clever, and incredibly effective. The villain, Elias Vance, is terrifyingly charismatic-a 'Magician' who believes he can reshape reality through sheer will.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Gritty, historical, and absolutely relentless. "This is historical fiction with teeth. The plot moves fast, jumping from high-society galas to frozen boxcars in the railyards without missing a beat.
Customer Reviews
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