Few things are as thrilling as an American road trip. For years, I spent every spring following the PGA Tour. Mostly, I travelled with Robinson Holloway, another young reporter, and mostly we stayed at seedy budget motels and ate at the Waffle House. Robinson is one of the smartest, funniest, kindest women I’ve ever known, and although we were mostly broke, we had so much fun cruising down the interstate listening to country music.
The minute I decided to set Kat Wolfe on Thin Ice in the Adirondacks, Robinson was the first person I called. Thankfully, she was free at short notice. We met in New Jersey, hopped into her car, turned on the country music, and hit the road.
I knew that I wanted part of the plot to unfold in New York City, which I adore. I also knew that I wanted the cabin in which Kat and Harper find themselves to be located in true wilderness. It was my editor, Wesley Adams, who suggested the Adirondacks.
It was a perfect fit. Robinson and I stayed with local scientists, Deb Roberts and Bob Singer. As well as being open-water swimmers, they’ve canoed practically every key lake and river in the six-million-acre park.
To begin with, I found the sheer size of the Adirondacks overwhelming. I couldn’t imagine how I’d find the exact right place for Kat and Harper’s cabin. But Bob, it turned out, had his own plane. He was also a superb pilot. He took me flying over the Adirondack mountains and there, on a blue lake surrounded by forest I saw the ideal spot.
Between Deb and Bob and the friendly locals we met in coffee shops, we were able to find the lesser-known trails at the height of the fall colors. The scenery was truly stunning. In one forest, I experienced what Riley does in my novel: ruby rain. The soft, jewel-like sound of the leaves falling will stay with me always.
The reason I go to such lengths to research my novels is in the hope that the reader will feel, really feel, that they’re standing in the shoes of Kat and Harper and solving the mystery along with them.
In the short time since I traveled to the Adirondacks, Covid-19 has changed the world beyond recognition. Few places have been hit harder than New York City, and few inhabitants have fought back with such courage. Every day, in every way, ordinary heroes are rising to the challenge, saving lives, and bringing smiles to hospitals, care homes, and communities.
Wherever you live, hold fast to hope and kindness. Those are the things that’ll see us all through. And if, like me, you love reading, you’ll know this simple truth. There is no better escape than getting lost in a book.
Keep reading and follow your dreams.
Lauren St John, 2020
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Whenever I do school visits or speak at literary festivals, two questions almost always come up: “Where do you get your ideas?” and “How long does it take to write a book?”
In a way, they’re different parts of the same question. For instance, the idea for Kat Wolfe Takes the Case was partly inspired by my childhood on a farm and game reserve in Zimbabwe, and the life-changing experiences I had rescuing dolphins and leopards with the Born Free Foundation.
Other things influenced the plot too. Research trips to the Jurassic Coast, a newspaper clipping on the fossil trade, and an encounter with rhinos at Shamwari Game Reserve. As for Kat Wolfe on Thin Ice, it might not have existed were it not for the many thousands of miles I drove with Robinson Holloway while covering the PGA Tour.
What I’m trying to say is, it’s very hard to pinpoint where books begin because so many chance meetings and life experiences go into each and every character and detail. It’s a bit like sowing a wildflower meadow. Sometimes you’re surprised by what comes up!
Throughout the writing of this book, so many wonderful people have supported me, been endlessly patient with me, had spirit-restoring coffees or Zoom calls with me, made me laugh, and handed me boxes of Kleenex on the days when it all seemed impossible.
Huge thanks to Catherine Clarke at Felicity Bryan Associates, Venetia Gosling at Gosling Editorial, and Lucy Pearse at Macmillan Children’s Books for doing pretty much all those things. It’s been a joy.
Special thanks also brilliant Wesley Adams, my editor at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, not least for suggesting I set my snowy cabin mystery in the Adirondacks! Like Kat, I left a bit of my heart in the High Peaks forests. Both Daniel Deamo and Dung Ho have captured Kat and Harper, the huskies, and autumn in the Adirondacks perfectly.
At MCB in London, Jo Hardace, Amber Ivatt, Sarah Clarke, and Belinda Rasmussen are the best publishing team any author could hope to have. The same is true at FSG in New York. Thanks to Melissa Warten, Lelia Mander, Erica Ferguson, and Valerie Shea at FSG).
Of course, Kat Wolfe on Thin Ice would have been a very different book had Deb Roberts and Bob Singer not taken two virtual strangers under their wing in the Adirondacks. Thanks so much for the advice, map-reading, and hospitality, and to Bob particularly for the unforgettable flight over the Adirondacks. Robinson, thanks for leaving Ginger and Poki to organize one of our best-ever road trips. Until the next time …
There are many good things about being a children’s author, but one of my favorites is the community of children’s authors. Thanks to Abi Elphinstone, Katherine Rundell, and Piers Torday for the spirit-lifting Zoom coffees. The next socially-distanced dinner is on me!
Thanks also to Emelia Sithole-Matarise and my godson, Matis, for the walks, talks, and daily inspiration, and my Mom, Dad, and sister, Lisa, for being there through thick and thin.
Last but not least, thanks to Merina McInnes for the room with the view of deer, kites, blue jays, foxes, voles, blue tits, goldfinches, and green parrots. It’s made all the difference in the world.
BY LAUREN ST JOHN
Wolfe and Lamb Mysteries
Kat Wolfe Investigates
Kat Wolfe Takes the Case
Kat Wolfe on Thin Ice
Legend of the Animal Healer Series
The White Giraffe
Dolphin Song
The Last Leopard
The Elephant’s Tale
Operation Rhino
Laura Marlin Mysteries
Dead Man’s Cove
Kidnap in the Caribbean
Kentucky Thriller
Rendezvous in Russia
The Secret of Supernatural Creek
One Dollar Horse Series
The One Dollar Horse
Race the Wind
Fire Storm
Stand-Alone Novels
The Snow Angel
The Glory
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lauren St John grew up on a farm and game reserve in Zimbabwe surrounded by horses, cats, dogs, warthogs, and a pet giraffe. After a decade as a sports and music journalist, she wrote the bestselling White Giraffe, as well as the Laura Marlin Mysteries and the One Dollar Horse series. A passionate conservationist, Lauren is a patron for the Born Free Foundation and Mane Chance Animal Sanctuary and the founder of authors4oceans.org. When not writing or saving leopards and dolphins, she is a full-time valet to her Bengal cat, Max. Visit her online at laurenstjohn.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Spy Craft
Sleepless in the Sleepy-Time Inn
Ruby Rain
Call of the Wild
Car Trouble
A Narrow Escape
Nightingale Lodge
Midnight Visitor
Wolves
Wrong Turn
Star Witness
Double Jeopardy
Bear Spirit
Nine Lives
Nice as Pie
Rocky Road
Snowmageddon
The Wrong Writers
The Clue Club
Thin Ice
Silver Lake
Rookie Error
Saving Riley
What Three Words
One Good Turn
Ice Is Nice
Two Wrongs and a Right
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
Copyright © 2021 by Lauren St John
Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers
An Imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271
mackids.com
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: St John, Lauren, 1966–, author.
Title: Kat Wolfe on thin ice / Lauren St John.
Description: First edition. | New York: Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2021. | Series: Wolfe & Lamb mysteries; book 3 | Audience: Ages 8–12. | Audience: Grades 4–6. | Summary: Stranded alone while vacationing in the Adirondacks, twelve-year-old best friends Kat Wolfe and Harper Lamb leave their snug cabin to search for a missing witness in a criminal case, while a blizzard nears.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020025364 | ISBN 9780374309640 (hardcover)
Subjects: CYAC: Mystery and detective stories. | Robbers and outlaws—Fiction. | Missing children—Fiction. | Blizzards—Fiction. | Best friends—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Adirondack Mountains (N.Y.)—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.S77435 Kav 2021 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020025364
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First hardcover edition 2021
eBook edition 2021
eISBN 9780374309664