Cold wind : a mystery
(Book)

Thriller writer Beth Rivers, who recently fled her home in St. Louis after being kidnapped and tortured by an unidentified assailant, is still living in a halfway house for low-level female felons in the small town of Benedict, Alaska. The appearance on the home's doorstep of two little girls, mute and covered in mud, throws Beth's new life into turmoil. When Benedict police chief Gril Samuels, Beth's friend, arrives to take charge of the children, he brings news that the frozen body of a middle-aged woman has been found in the woods. Arson and break-ins follow. Gril welcomes Beth's assistance in figuring out who's committing the crimes and why.