Death in the Arctic by Tom Hindle
Description:
“A frozen wilderness.
A killer in the skies.
When aspiring travel writer Chloé Campbell is invited aboard a luxury airship flying to the North Pole, she thinks she’s bagged the opportunity of a lifetime.
But she hasn’t had long to admire the dazzling icy views before a fellow passenger is found dead in their cabin.
Trapped at the top of the world, the group agrees a tragic accident has occurred. But as the hours tick by, fear turns to doubt.
It seems everyone’s a suspect.
And it isn’t long before the passengers begin to turn on each other. . .”
My review:
I am giving this book a rating of 2 out of 5.
I’m always drawn to stories described as Christie-esque, since I love a good mystery (especially when those mysteries are written by Agatha Christie herself!). With the closed-off setting and promise of a writer solving a murder, I couldn’t not pick up a copy of Death in the Arctic!
Unfortunately, however, that’s where the excitement ended for me…
Although the book’s cover design is so excellent it compelled me to buy the paperback, I was certainly hoping for a more enjoyable experience from a book described as being ‘Christie-esque’. The large amount of backstory and frequent changes in character POV made it difficult to consider Chloé as the protagonist. In fact, it’s tough to imagine any of them as a main character, due to the shift in perspective from chapter to chapter that meant it was near impossible to connect with any of the characters.
In terms of pacing, the ‘inciting incident’ doesn’t happen until page 150 (13 chapters in!), which left 200 pages for the murder to be solved. I worked out who the killer was pretty much straight away, so the exchanges back and forth between the characters didn’t offer the satisfying red herrings I’m assuming they were meant to.
Then, by the end, the best way to describe the story would be to say things got a bit silly, even though I could see what was going to happen pages beforehand. There were some flashes of good description, hence my rating, but these were overshadowed by repetitive explanations and the fact that there wasn’t really much character development beyond superficial job-related stuff regarding the ‘FMC’.
It’s worth noting here that books aren’t supposed to be enjoyed by every reader, since the aspects of a story that make it appealing will land differently depending on a person’s unique perspective. So, I’m sure this author’s writing style would be enjoyable for many readers – especially those who love to follow multiple characters closely, as opposed to sticking with a standout protagonist for the entirety of a story.
Read in: February 2026
Format: Paperback
I’m including the date and format in which I experienced this story for transparency, since whatever is going on in the world (and a reader’s private life) at the time of reading, along with a book’s reading format, can impact an individual’s enjoyment of a story.
Disclaimer: I purchased this book. All opinions expressed in this review are mine and have not been influenced by the author or publisher in any way. This book review does not contain affiliate links.