Christmas Cold Case

Unsolved Case Files #2

by Maggie K. Black

Snowed in with a killer on the loose— and a baby to protect…

K-9 officer Ethan Finnick’s investigation into a cold case disappearance takes a dangerous turn when the missing man’s wife is attacked—and an abandoned baby is found on her property. Now Ethan must team up with Casey Thompson to safeguard the infant from kidnappers and find out the truth about her presumed-dead husband. But as the danger escalates, they realize that a hidden killer lurks in Casey’s small town, ready to protect deadly secrets at any cost…

From Love Inspired Courage. Danger. Faith.

Unsolved Case Files

Book 1: Cold Case Tracker
Book 2: Christmas Cold Case

Genres: Christian Fiction, Romance, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Christmas, Mystery

213 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 26, 2024

About the author

Maggie K. Black is an award-winning journalist with a thirst for adventure. She's lived in the American South, Europe and Middle East, and left a piece of her heart in each. She now makes her home in Canada, where she writes stories that make her heart race, chases her dog around the park and shares her adventures with her one true love and and their two daughters.

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book in a good series.

[Ethelann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas Cold Case is a great fast paced action packed book. One you just can't put down until the end. And what an ending!!

[Savanna Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took a turn I wasn't quite expecting, but thrilling!

[Joy Gaines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get ready to not stop reading.

Once you start reading, be hooked. This is a sweet and surprising story. You will enjoy reading it. The ending is awesome. Enjoy the book!!

[Kav · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eeeeeeppp!!! I’m so excited about this series and one of the reasons is that I love cold case stories. So much history and mystery and Maggie K. Black has done a marvellous job with this holiday romantic suspense. She even found a way to make the bad guy festively creepy. Bwahahaha!

Loved the snowed in angle — and double eeeeeepppp — the Canadian setting on Manitoulin Island is refreshingly different. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful part of northern Ontario (google images to catch a glimpse of God’s magnificent handiwork.)

Ethan is heading up a new cold case investigation team and he’s back on the island looking into a decade’s old case surrounding a missing husband, now presumed dead. He and his K-9 cadaver dog did the initial search when they were both young rookies and Ethan is anxious to bring closure to the man’s wife.

So, great set up introduced in a gripping white knuckle opening scene and then the twists and turns start piling up. Lots of danger and action and K-9 heroics (even if Nippi, short for Nipissing, is getting a bit white around the muzzle now.)

Black still manages to bring a cozy ambience through the small, close-knit community with plenty of Christmas-y touches that leave a reader in no doubt as to the season. Love, love, love a holiday romantic suspense that delivers the promised yuletide touches. There’s a significant inspirational thread focused on prayer which adds yet another layer to this compulsive read.

I listened to the audible edition, narrated by Patrick Zeller. He really amped up the tension in the action scenes. Amazing what a skilled voice actor can add to an already thrilling story.

[Rosemarie Grainer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense and filled with surprises

Casey finds baby Joey on her property with a note asks by her to keep him safe. Fennick is at Casey's place to try and talk her into reopening the search for her missing and presumed dead husband and another girl. Nippy is Fennick's retired cadaver dog. Can they figure out who is trying to hurt Casey and Joey? This story keeps you guessing until the very end.

The pace is breakneck and the tone is intense with an action and character oriented storyline. The characters are vivid and engaging. The Christian ideals are worked into the storyline.

[Brook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally I don't enjoy romances, but I did, with my husband, really enjoy this one as an audio book. Kudos to the excellent voice actor and an action plot that didn't drag. Yes the storyline did feel a little 'Hallmark', but on occasion I enjoy those. I particularly loved how prayer was naturally woven through the pages in ways that I find people pray often and for me that added something excellent to the story in part of reflected the character depth of those in the story.

[Ann Peachman Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ethan’s dream was to establish a cold case team working out of Toronto. While he is on Manitoulin Island over Christmas, however, he is drawn into the case of Casey Thomas’ missing husband who disappeared 10 years ago. She is fostering a little boy, and Ethan finds himself protecting them both as dangerous forces seem to be out to get them.

[Lois Carkhuff · Rating 5 out of 5]

predictable yet hard to put down

Maybe it’s the faith that the characters have and aren’t afraid to say it, show it and share it but I really enjoyed the two books in this series. I don’t normally read love stories but these have become favorites and I will carry their themes into my daily life. Thank you Maggie K. Black!

[MaryRobyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I've read in a while. Never a dull.moment.

This was such a good faith based book. But it doesn't take away from the fear,and suspense a good thriller must have. I'm looking forward for the next one. Ill probably start it tonight. Its only 11pm plenty of time left to start the next book in this series!
MaryRobyn

[Melmo2610 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really well woven mystery. I liked the fact the two main characters had met before and so had a bit of history in the story. Lots of twists in this one that kept me invested and the ending was exciting. I am enjoying this cold case series!

[Carolyn Frazier · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has an endangered abandoned baby, a widow, a retired K-9, and a detective who must solve a cold case in addition to stopping a killer. A danger filled Christmas suspense, this is one you don't want to miss.

[Alisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story was good but the narration was not. The way the narrator changed voices was to change the volume of his voice and for someone who has hearing issues I found myself struggling to hear parts of the book or turning the volume up and down so the overall experience was frustrating.

[Brenda Bumford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved how each character had a special kind of strength. The storyline was solid and stayed true. I would definitely recommend this book! Thank you, Maggie for creating such a wonderful story.

[Phyllis Whitaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good story. Baby Joey will steal your heart, as well as Nippy.

[Harlequin Books]

Inspirational Suspense, Wholesome Romance, Animal Fiction, Romantic Suspense
Miniseries
Unsolved Case Files (Book #2)

[Beverly Duell-Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

What great book! Great action and suspense!

[Sheri Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read! I knew how it would end but had no clue how we'd get there.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read. Great plot and characters....and I guessed who Joey's dad was :)

[Vickie Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a awesome story.

[Pascale’s*ARC,Unwind,Read,Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn’t read anything by this author before. I really enjoyed

[Arlyn Strodtbeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story, very exciting

[Elaine Applebury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was kind of dark and depressing. I usually like Maggie Black’s book, but this just wasn’t my favorite.🤷🏻‍♀️

[Sally Bomaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Casey & Finnack

What a great book with alot of twist and turns.It has a surprised happy ending. I got to go see what other books this author has written.Enjoy!!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting, suspenseful read from a new-to-me author. I look forward to reading the rest of the series and exploring more of her stories.

[Annette Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read! Casey and Finnick are aewsome!

[Missy Edmondson · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read

This was a great read and actually was so good I couldn’t stop. Highly recommend! A baby, a murder and Christmas. What more could you want?