Scorpio Books and Quentin Wilson Publishing warmly welcome you to the launch of Icefall by Marie Connolly.

Set against the dramatic beauty of the Southern Alps and the elite world of some of Christchurch’s rich and powerful, Icefall is a classic murder mystery where Nellie Prayle’s search for truth and justice push her skills to the edge, where lines between friends and enemies are blurred, and more than one suspect is skating on thin ice.

Icefall will be launched by Associate Professor Heather Purdie from University of Canterbury.

All welcome, this is a free event. Refreshments provided. Please send in your RSVP.

About the book

A melting glacier gives up its secrets, a man is murdered in his ritzy beachside home, and the Christchurch detectives get to work. Two mysteries, two separate investigations… or are they? A handful of Christchurch rich-listers start eyeing their assets and shaking in their Jimmy Choos, but the police are cold on the trail until once again Detective Jack Simmons calls on criminal psychologist Nellie Prayle to help them navigate a powerful web of secrets and lies frozen in time.

With a stalker, a couple of ex-parolees, a cop with his own agenda and a journalist who won’t quit thrown into the mix, Nellie and the team soon realise their questions have barely scratched the surface. And just as her personal life is warming up nicely too…

About the author

Marie Connolly writes across a diversity of genres. With an international reputation for her academic books in the areas of child and family welfare, she has also published non-fiction books relating to community arts, and has self-published a series of travel books for children based in the South Island. Her first crime novel, Dark Sky was shortlisted in the 2025 Ngaio Marsh Awards for Best First Novel. Also released by Quentin Wilson Publishing, Icefall is the second book in the Nellie Prayle series.