Reading Group Guide for COLD BURN (2005) . . .
by Kit Ehrman
Fiction/Mystery / Poisoned Pen Press / hardcover / February, 2005 / $24.95 / 1-59058-143-1 / also available in Trade Paperback / LARGE PRINT / February, 2005 / $22.95
About this Guide . . .
The questions, discussion ideas, and author biography that follow are intended to enhance your group’s reading and discussion of Kit Ehrman’s second mystery, COLD BURN. The author is also available to speak with your reading group via telephone if you so desire. Please email the author through the link on the website to schedule a phone conference.
About Cold Burn . . .
When Bruce Claremont quit his job working on a thoroughbred breeding farm and vanished, his sister Corey asks barn manager Steve Cline for help. They decide that the simplest way to find out what happened is for Steve to take Bruce’s place. So Steve slips unobtrusively into Bruce’s world, and the more he learns, the more he suspects that Corey may never see her brother again. Because all is not as it seems in this pastoral setting where secrets and jealousies and obsessions are the norm, and the present seems to be repeating its fiery past. If Steve’s not very careful, he just might get burned . . .
Download . . .
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Author Biography . . .
After discovering the works of Dick Francis, Kit Ehrman quit her government job and went to work in the horse industry. Twenty-five years later, Ehrman combined her love of horses and mysteries by penning the award-winning, equine-oriented mystery series featuring barn manager and amateur sleuth Steve Cline. Published by Poisoned Pen Press, the series has received numerous awards and outstanding reviews in The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, The Denver Post, and the Chicago Tribune among others. Ehrman’s latest, TRIPLE CROSS, is a Best Book of Indiana, a ForeWord Magazine Book-of-the-Year medalist, and IPPY Award medalist, and Great Lakes Book Award finalist, a BookSense Notable Pick, and a Kentucky Literary Award nominee.
For Discussion . . .
1.What kind of mood did the author establish in the opening of COLD BURN? How did the author achieve this? Did the opening draw you into the story?
What kind of mood did the author establish in the opening of COLD BURN? How did the author achieve this? Did the opening draw you into the story?2.Are you given enough description to visualize the setting? Is the description clear? Is there too much description?
Are you given enough description to visualize the setting? Is the description clear? Is there too much description?3.The author wanted to give you a feeling of what it’s like to witness a foal’s birth without going into to much detail. Was the birthing scene successful in your opinion?
The author wanted to give you a feeling of what it’s like to witness a foal’s birth without going into to much detail. Was the birthing scene successful in your opinion? 4.Which secondary character did you like the most and why?
Which secondary character did you like the most and why?5.How well do you feel life on the breeding farm was portrayed? How about the horses? Do you feel the author gave you enough information so that you could see the horses as individuals with unique personalities?
How well do you feel life on the breeding farm was portrayed? How about the horses? Do you feel the author gave you enough information so that you could see the horses as individuals with unique personalities?6.Was the climax exciting? Was it satisfying? Believable?
Was the climax exciting? Was it satisfying? Believable?7.How do you think Steve is doing emotionally by the end of the story? How has he changed?
How do you think Steve is doing emotionally by the end of the story? How has he changed?8.What do you foresee in the continued relationship between Steve and Corey?
What do you foresee in the continued relationship between Steve and Corey?9.Steve has his share of shortcomings, but overall, did you like him? What would you like for his future?
Steve has his share of shortcomings, but overall, did you like him? What would you like for his future?10.If COLD BURN was made into a movie, whom would you cast as Steve? Rachel? Corey? Dr. Deirdre Nash and her husband? Shane Hadley?
If COLD BURN was made into a movie, whom would you cast as Steve? Rachel? Corey? Dr. Deirdre Nash and her husband? Shane Hadley?11.What question would you most like to ask the author?
What question would you most like to ask the author?Thank you for using this guide. We hope you enjoyed COLD BURN. The third book in the Steve Cline Mystery Series, COLD BURN, is now available in hardback and LARGE PRINT trade paperback.
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COLD BURN FUN LINKS . . .
READERS' GROUP Book Discussion Guide
COLD BURN is set in Warrenton, Virginia. Much of my early research for COLD BURN was done on the Internet, but I followed up with a visit to Warrenton and fell in love with this quaint town set east of the Blue Ridge Mountains and in the middle of Virginia horse country.
Speaking of horse country, here's a link to a wonderful tack store in Warrenton: Horse Country Saddlery. The photo on their home page says it all.
purchase COLD BURN
read an interview
another interview on COLD BURN and setting
Do You Speak Czech?
If you know someone in the Czech Republic who likes mysteries, AT RISK is available there from Olympia for 179 Kc.
CHLADNY ZAR by Kit Ehrmanova
K i t E h r m a n . . .
Site content copyrighted 2006/2007 by Kit Ehrman. top of page
Louisville Skyline photo by Fleur-Design.net
Horse photo by Mike Corrado
Hardcover
ISBN: 1-59058-143-1
February, 2005
$24.95
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 1-59058-293-4
November, 2006
$14.95
LARGE PRINT
ISBN: 1-59058-157-1
February, 2005
$22.95
REVIEWS
"COLD BURN is a hot read. Grab it." ~Rita Mae Brown
"Foul play among the thoroughbreds brings Ehrman's young Lochinvar riding to the rescue once more. Gallant Steve is increasingly irresistible in Ehrman’s best yet." ~Kirkus
"Ehrman skillfully ratchets up the suspense en route to a surprising conclusion that nonetheless makes perfect sense . . . fully engages the reader, then leaves him or her satisfied. What more could you ask of a mystery?" ~Booklist
"COLD BURN is a terrific, engaging novel full of bits of horse breeding arcana, and a more complex and realistic view of life and death - and birth - than can usually be found in the standard mystery novel."
~The Daily Oakland Press
"The nitty-gritty grunt work that takes place…in the horse barns where mares are bred and foaled, is the backdrop for Ehrman’s absorbing third mystery to feature Steve Cline. He has a pleasing honesty [and] Ehrman’s knowledge and exposition of life on a horse farm is most impressive and enjoyable."
~Publishers Weekly
"Ehrman’s real strength, however, is her canny ability to carry the reader into the foaling barn so that its sights and sounds and smells and vitality are completely vivid." Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
