“This is what it means to age, I think. The days are long, but the years are short.”
The Frozen River is a 2023 historical mystery book by Ariel Lawhon that blends suspense, multifaceted characters and rich settings to create a tale that is poignant, gripping and impactful. Set over the span of one winter in 1789, the story follows Martha Ballard, a midwife and healer tasked with determining the cause of death for a man who has been entombed in the frozen Kennebec River. Old secrets and hidden motivations are brought to light across this close-knit community, and Martha is forced to investigate what might be a shocking murder on her own as she grapples against a society where women are considered best seen and not heard. If you loved Ariel Lawhon’s cleverly layered work, join us at What We Reading for the best books like The Frozen River that feature historical settings, thrilling mysteries and remarkable heroines.
The Berry Pickers – Amanda Peters
First up on our list of books like The Frozen River is Amanda Peters’ bestselling historical mystery, The Berry Pickers. In the summer of 1962, a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia moves to Maine to pick berries. Weeks later, their youngest daughter, Ruthie, disappears. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, who will be traumatised by the event for years to come.
Elsewhere in Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Yet her father is distant and her mother is fiercely overprotective. Norma is frequently plagued by dreams and visions that feel far too real just to be figments of her imagination. As she grows up, she gradually discovers that there is something her parents are not telling her. Determined to uncover the truth, she will spend decades getting to the heart of the most shocking secrets her family have to hide.
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All The Colors Of The Dark – Chris Whitaker
1975 is a time of great change across the United States. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And, in the sleepy town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing. When the daughter of an affluent family is targeted, the most unlikely of heroes emerges – Patch, a local boy with one eye. He saves the girl but, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.
Patch and those around him who love him soon learn that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will soon lead to dark truths that could soon lead to them losing one another. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, and a heartwrenching love story, Chris Whitaker’s All the Colors of the Dark is one of the best follow-ups for anyone who loved The Frozen River.
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Shelterwood – Lisa Wingate
Oklahoma, 1909. Eleven-year-old Olive Augusta Radley knows that her stepfather doesn’t have any good intentions toward the two Choctaw girls living in their home as wards. When the elder girl suddenly disappears, Ollie flees into the woods, taking six-year-old Nessa with her. Together, they embark on a dangerous journey to the Winding Stair Mountains, forming an incredible bond with themselves and others like them, whilst also attempting to stay one step ahead of the outlaws and desperate men who look to exploit them, or worse.
Oklahoma, 1990. Ranger Valerie Boren O’Dell arrives at Horsethief Trail National Park looking for a peaceful balance between her career and single parenthood. However, on the day of the park’s opening, a teenage hiker disappears and controversy swells around a long-hidden burial site of three children in a cave. In Lisa Wingate’s stunning 2024 historical mystery, Shelterwood, Val’s quest to uncover the truth leads to her allying with the neighbouring Choctaw Tribal Police, uncovering old secrets and revealing the deadly past of the land itself.
The River We Remember – William Kent Krueger
Another one of the best historical mystery books like The Frozen River comes from William Kent Krueger’s The River We Remember. In 1958, on Memorial Day, the residents of Jewel, Minnesota gather to remember the sacrifices made by those in the conflicts of the past. Then, the half-clothed body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is discovered in the Alabaster River.
The investigation into the murder is handed to Sheriff Brody Dern, a war veteran still carrying the physical and emotional scars of his service. However, before he even has a chance to begin his rounds of questioning, rumours begin swirling around that the culprit has to be Noah Bluestone, a Native American who has just returned home with a Japanese wife. As tensions, suspicions and accusations all begin to rise, the small town teeters on the edge of more violence. And, as he struggles to keep a lid on law and order and find the truth of Quinn’s murder, Dern must grapple with putting to rest the demons of his own past.
The Four Winds – Kristin Hannah
Texas, 1934. On the back of The Great Depression, millions are out of work and drought has broken the Great Plains. Water is drying up, crops are dying and farmers are fighting to keep their land and livelihoods going.
In the uncertain and dangerous Dust Bowl era, Elsa Martinelli must make an agonising and consequential decision. Does she stay and fight for the lands she loves, or face west to California in search of a better life? One of the best Kristin Hannah books for any readers who loved The Frozen River, The Four Winds follows this spirited woman as her courage and sacrifice set a course for a generation. Nominated for Best Historical Fiction in the Goodreads Choice Awards, Hannah’s Dust Bowl setting provides the perfect backdrop for an indelible portrait of America and a gripping tale of love, heroism and hope.
Midwives – Chris Bohjalian
It is 1981, and Sibyl Danforth has been a dedicated midwife in the rural community of Reddington, Vermont for fifteen years. One treacherous night winter’s night, in a house cut off from the world thanks to cut telephone lines and icy roads, she takes desperate measures to save a baby’s life. She takes the decision to perform an emergency Caesarean on the baby’s mother, who appears to have died in labour. But, what if the patient wasn’t already dead, and it was Sibyl who had inadvertently killed her?
Recounted by Sibyl’s precocious fourteen-year-old daughter, the trial that follows bears more resemblance to a witch hunt than a search for the truth. All of its participants are acting from the highest motives, and the defendant looks increasingly guilty. Similar to The Frozen River, Sibyl Danforth is forced to face the antagonism of the law, the hostility of traditional doctors and the accusations of her own conscience in Chris Bohjalian’s acclaimed book, Midwives.
Go As A River – Shelley Read
On a cool autumn day in 1948, Victoria Nash delivers late-season peaches from her family’s farm nestled in the rugged beauty of Colorado. As she sets off for the village, a dishevelled stranger stops to ask her the way. How she chooses to answer will unknowingly alter the course of both these young people’s lives. This is how Shelley Read’s mesmerising Go as a River opens, beginning a tale of split-second choices and courageous acts that reveal Victoria’s untapped strength and resilience.
Gathering all the pieces of her small and extraordinary existence, Victoria is soon confronted with a single decision that will change her life forever. Like The Frozen River, Go as a River is a powerful coming-of-age novel that is an equally tragic and uplifting story of love, loss, family, survival and hope.
Take My Hand – Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend intends to make a difference, especially in her African American community. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she is determined to help women make their own decisions for both their bodies and their lives. But, when her first week on the job leads her down a dusty road and a battered one-room cabin, she is shocked to discover that her first patients are just eleven and thirteen years old.
Neither of the Williams sisters have even kissed a boy. Nevertheless, being poor and Black is reason enough for those handling the family’s welfare benefits to have the girls on birth control. Civil quickly takes India, Erica and the family into her heart. That is, until she arrives at their door one day to discover that the unthinkable has happened, upending her own life for decades to come. Years on, with retirement looming on the horizon, Dr Civil Townsend knows that she has to revisit the people and stories that refuse to be forgotten if she ever wants to find her own peace.
A Sweet Sting Of Salt – Rose Sutherland
When a sharp cry wakes Jean in the middle of a stormy evening, she is convinced that it must have been a dream. But, when the cry comes again, she ventures outside and is shocked to find a woman drenched to the bone in the freezing rain in the middle of labour. Whilst she might be the only midwife for miles, Jean is at a loss as to who this woman is or where she has come from.
Jean assumes that she is the new wife of her neighbour further along the road, Tobias. Her assumptions appear to be right when Tobias arrives in search of his wife, Muirin. Nevertheless, his arrival only seems to bring more questions. Why did he keep his wife’s pregnancy a secret? And why does her whole demeanour change when he’s around? Like The Frozen River, Rose Sutherland’s A Sweet Sting of Salt is a historical mystery novel set in colonial America featuring strong and determined FMCs.
Code Name Hélène – Ariel Lawhon
If you loved The Frozen River, why not give another one of Ariel Lawhon’s best books a go? Code Name Hélène whisks readers back to 1936 where they are introduced to Nancy Wake, an intrepid Australian living in Paris. There, she meets and falls for wealthy French industrialist Henri Fiocca. However, almost as soon as she agrees to become Mrs. Fiocca, the Germans invade France. She takes yet another name: a code name.
As Lucienne Carlier, Nancy smuggles documents and people out of the country, becoming so skilled she is dubbed The White Mouse by the Gestapo. With a five million franc bounty on her head, she is forced to flee France and leave Henri behind. She begins training with Special Operations Executives in Britain and is named Hélène. Finally, she returns to France as the deadly Madam Andre, one of the most feared and powerful members of the Resistance. In Code Name Hélène, Lawhon reveals the incredible exploits and sacrifices of a heroine who deserves to be a household name.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
