Arctic Ice, Russians, and Marauding Polar Bears Thicken Plot of Newest Martindale Mystery
Researching
ice and its implications for national security are the basis for the latest
Thomas Martindale Mystery, Murder Below Zero, to be published
by Penman Productions on July 1. In his latest adventure, college professor
and sometime amateur sleuth Thomas Martindale leaves his familiar Oregon
setting to sign on as a science writer for a research expedition to the
Arctic as a change of pace from the often mundane world of the university.
The work is unique: an attempt to study ice as a tool for the nation’s
security. Soon after members of the team board a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker
for the journey to their remote base, Russian scientists join the group
with unpleasant consequences.
The rivalry turns deadly after the icebreaker leaves and people start
dying under mysterious circumstances. The arrival of an Arab terrorist
and a marauding polar bear complicate life on the small island. An early
freeze traps the men and women of the expedition as a massive ice shield
moves in.
Ron Lovell uses his past careers as a magazine writer in Los Angeles,
Houston, Denver, and New York and a journalism professor at Oregon State
University to craft an exciting and timely tale of people against danger—both
from man and from the elements. This is the fourth book in the series
that includes Murder at Yaquina Head, Dead Whales Tell No Tales,
and Lights, Camera . . . Murder.