A snowbound mountain pass, a derailed train, a locked, shuttered and heavily guarded carriage, an apocalyptic storm, an ancient hotel, old betrayals, murder and state secrets: one of 2010's most talked about debuts arrives in paperback

THE EIGHTH INSTALMENT IN THE HANNE WILHELMSEN SERIES.

A snowbound mountain pass, a derailed train, a locked, shuttered and heavily guarded carriage, an apocalyptic storm, an ancient hotel, old betrayals, murder and state secrets.

1222 metres above sea level: train 601 from Oslo to Bergen careens off iced rails as the worst snowstorm in Norwegian history gathers force around it. With night falling and the temperature plummeting, its 269 passengers are forced to abandon their snowbound train and find shelter in a centuries-old mountain hotel. Before dawn breaks, one of them will be murdered.

Trapped by the killer within, trapped by the deadly storm outside, Hanne Wilhelmsen's unease is mounting. Why was the last train carriage sealed? Why is the top floor of the hotel locked down? And, of course, what if the killer strikes again?

"Lively, unusual and persuasive. Holt writes with the command we have come to expect from the top Scandinavian writers." - The Times

"Step aside, Stieg Larsson, Holt is the queen of Scandinavian crime thrillers." - Red Magazine