THE EDGE OF WINTER: A Danny Carlisle Mystery

Danny Carlisle Mysteries #1

by C.E. Nelson

A frozen lake…Cold-Blooded Murder.



A powerful man is found dead in his fish house on a frozen Minnesota lake, murdered, stabbed to death. His employees, family, and the local sheriff, all seem happy to have him gone - all except his personal assistant. With his death she is now forced to do something she thought she would never have to do, reveal secrets that will destroy the careers and lives of many - including a man set on being the next governor of the state.



Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Agent Danny Carlisle has been given the assignment, her first as a lead agent, and she and her partner soon find they have too many suspects and too little evidence. But someone is doing them a favor, narrowing down their list of suspects by killing them off. The snow and bodies in Duluth accumulate, and Carlisle's boss is pushing her to find who is doing the killing, someone who seems to know her every move.



“A great mystery read, indeed!” – Thomas La Roche



“Brisk mystery thriller” – Kindle Customer



Readers of John Sanford, Sue Grafton, Sandra Brown, Jeffrey Deaver and alike will enjoy this twisty thriller.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Mystery, Ebooks, Crime

Audible Audio

Published January 18, 2024

About the author

Chuck (C.E.) Nelson is an avid angler and author of three highly rated murder mystery series.

The Trask Brothers Murder Mystery Series follows the exploits of Dave and Don Trask, identical twin brothers in law enforcement, as they chase down killers across Minnesota and beyond. Like the author, the brothers love to fish, and you'll usually find a few fishing tidbits in each book.

The Edge of Winter and Kill Six comprise the Danny Carlisle mystery series to date. Carlisle has appeared in Trask Brother's books and is a headstrong independent agent from Duluth, Minnesota, likely to get herself in more than a little bit of trouble.

Peter 'Doc' Hunter is the protagonist in Angry Sins. Doc is a BCA agent who is working on becoming a professional golfer when his day job doesn't get in the way. Doc is a good golfer - the author, not so much.

Nelson resides in Minnesota and has a cabin in Canada where he feeds his angling needs and ponders his next story.

All of his books can be found at www.cenelsonbooks.com.

Thanks for reading!

Reviews

[Michelle Willms · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just couldn't finish this one

The writing was okay, though it could have used another edit. There were so many characters, it became tiresome to keep track of them, especially since few were memorable.

Then, one of the lead detectives kept referring to god, even in relation to her investigation. After several such references, I could take no more. This just is not the series for me.

[Susan Lichtfuss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suspenseful and intricate plot

This is a page turner. Love the locale and the characters. Felt like I was there. That’s part of what makes a great escape novel. The story that takes you there is the other part. Great read.

[Rae Vor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

[paulette sarelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great police thriller

The book kept you on your toes until the end. Lots of twist and turns. Loved the main character Danny. Can't wait to read more from this author.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first Danny Carlisle book I've read. I really enjoyed it.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good ending

This book was so interesting, and such a break from more than nonsense that I sometimes download. It writes like an experienced author. The storyline was great and the characters as well. All in all I enjoyed this book.

[Maria Ivek · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very disappointed by this book because it essentially had no plot other than the fact that people were rapidly and seemingly randomly killed. The audible version of this book was produced by a computer generated voice which as a result had absolutely no inflection and detracted quite a bit from what was already a very weak plot. I don’t understand why this book received such good reviews, but I definitely did not enjoy it, nor will I be reading anything else by this author.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

great read

I was looking to read something different than the books I typically read. I enjoyed that I had to keep reading to find out who the killer was, This is my first book I have read by C.E. Nelson.

[Carole Whitehurst · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK but bad writing style

This story had an interesting plot with loads of competing ´baddies’. Not something you see every day.

I did, however, have to remove two points for two major problems:

1. Really bad writing style, for example two different events in two different timelines, written like they were happening at the same time. See the extract below.

« Carlisle couldn’t remember if they ever caught many fish in the early hours of the morning as she pulled out of the BCA lot and began to drive west. »

2. Confusing names. Carlisle and Castle who work as as partners. A friend who is referred to by her first name, her family name and her nick name. Etc. With such a rich plot it just got too difficult to keep up.

[Will Decker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. The plot moves along at a fast pace and the main characters come alive, even though there is still a little mystery surrounding them. Danny Carlisle reminds me of so many people I know when it comes to Christmas and shopping, but I can't think of any of them that would go through what she did to get out of it. Carlisle is also a procrastinator where her job is concerned and it left me wondering if she would ever connect the dots or not and solve the case before the author ran out of characters to kill off. I look forward to reading more by this author.

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

You get murdered, you get murdered, you get murdered!
There were so many crimes in this it was outrageous.
The main detective is a HOT mess. The constant mention of her intake of food is unnecessary. They emphasize MANY times having sauce/food on her face and having to wipe it and suck her fingers clean. The amount of times it’s mentioned is really weird. There is also a good amount of religious actions/talk.
There are so many POVs it’s hard to follow. I did the audiobook and it was even harder to follow with no variation in voices. This would have been a lot better with a full cast.

[Patty U. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was reading along, enjoying this book, near the end, when BOOM the end was there! Why?? There are so many unanswered questions and situations. Unless, book two picks up where this one lets off. Don't see that very often in a crime fiction series. The story was very interesting. Rather complex with all the characters. Some being killed, some are killed, and some are thinking bout it! I thought the agent was very close to finding the killer, well.....

[Stfnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cannot say I really enjoyed reading the book. It has a writing style I don’t really like and some characters are really weird but without getting more depth on their character they are just plain weird for me and not intriguing. I kept reading because I wanted to know who did it, SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!



But you actually have to keep guessing even after the last word has been written. You’ll never know for sure.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Edge of Winter (Danny Carline Mysteries,#1) by C.E.Nelson
.
What truth does the fish house hold? A well to do business man has been found murdered in his fish house, with so many enemies who is the real threat? Agent Carline has her work cut out for her
as she moves through this little town filled with secret to find out what really happened and also puts herself in harms way. Is it possible she will also find love along the way?
.
3.5*

[Lisa Stocklin Stocklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the reviews that I read, I really felt that it would not be the best read. It was a murder mystery and yes there were several characters. I did not see the ending coming the way it did. It was a bit of a ping pong going on with the various characters, I found it to be a pretty good read. Nothing over the top as far as nail biting suspense or steamy romance but a good story line.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mysterious

I liked the book but I didn't like the ending! Many different scenes going on all at the same time. Hard to keep track of everything but still intense and readable. Lots of action. Ended too soon for my taste.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing

There were too many loose ends. The ending made no sense. If this has been the first book in the series I had read, it would have been the last. Other books in the series are better.

[Chanel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though it felt like this was the second book in the series, I enjoyed it. Danny was tough but still feminine. The book made reference of a prior event but I don’t know what book it was by this author. A great start to a series.

[Billie R Shoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

could have been a good book

Don't know if this was a first book or not but sometimes less is more. I tired of trying to keep up with who did what to who and how it all tied in to the first scene of murder. Disappointed for sure.

[Jessie hastings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good just slow at times

I did enjoy this book but at times I felt a drag. Just slowed down a bit much in places. I enjoyed it otherwise and will probably read others by the author.

[Carol Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed

I have read several other books by this author and e enjoyed reading them. However, this one had enough subtle political jabs/remarks that it really decreased my reading enjoyment. Also, why does her new boyfriend have to be portrayed as extremely wealthy?

[Krista Traill Middleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another audible on my work trip drive. I enjoyed it, but there were a lot of characters to keep up with. Lots of deaths to keep up with as well. Would have liked it more as a book versus Audible. -KM

[Diane K Riedl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story

I had a harder time getting into the story. But once I did, it was worth the dead. I like books that are set in the Midwest. The ending was a letdown though.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read.

[Sue :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

Every once in awhile I enjoy a good murder mystery. This one hit the spot. A good police drama but it left to many questions. Hopefully they are answered in the next book.

[Cindy Crissman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ending was terrible

Great story that really kept me interested. But, it ended so abruptly I'm a bit angry. Now, I don't even want to read the next book!

[Margaret Poisson · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many characters was hard to keep track of and I was disappointed with the ending .

[Cricket · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many characters murdered. Too many extraneous things going on that didn't really contribute to the story line. Attempted red herrings, but didn't work out well.

[Debra Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

The audio book is read by a computer generated voice and is really bad. I do not recommend.

[Loey Minske · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn’t finish this book. It sounded interesting but was completely turned off by an AI reading. There was no emotion.