Article and Interview by Elise Cooper
Cold Light of Day by Elizabeth Goddard takes readers on a roller coaster ride with betrayals, espionage, and murders in a small Alaskan town.
The plot has both the hero and heroine having secrets and mystery surrounding their background. Autumn Long is the police chief of Shadow Gap and must handle a crime spree where bodies are mounting up, a woman is missing, and her father almost killed. While investigating a crime, she notices that a drowning woman was being saved by Grier Brennan. Even though he has come to Alaska to stay anonymous, he decides to help the police chief get to the bottom of these crimes. The police chief welcomes his help since she thinks his background is either law enforcement or military.
Besides keeping secrets from each other Autumn and Grier are trying to control their emotions and not get involved romantically. Unfortunately, both realize there is a strong attraction, and their emotions get the better of them, which leads to attraction.
This story has a lot of suspense and drama. The hero and heroine along with the rest of the community have readers turning the pages, wondering how the crime will be solved and what is their mysterious background.
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the series and this story?
Elizabeth Goddard: This is a new series. I got the idea as I was doing the research for an earlier book, Deadly Target, in the previous series. I came across this Podcast, “Missing in Alaska.” I started with the setting and then created a fictional town and the characters. I wanted to have a female police chief. I made sure I put in mysteries into the background of the hero and heroine.
EC: Why Alaska?
EG: I love the Pacific Northwest and think how Alaska is an extension. Plus, it is a very popular setting. Because Alaska is a place that people go to hide, I thought it would be interesting to have some characters go there under another identity. It also gives me a chance to write a small-town community.
EC: How would you describe the hero, Grier?
EG: He is an enigma. He is a good person and steps up to the plate. Grier is not a rule follower, protective, a little cocky, and courageous.
EC: How would you describe Autumn?
EG: A survivor, strong, determined, and vulnerable. Family is important to her.
EC: What about the relationship?
EG: She likes to throw verbal punches to Grier. Because the characters were thrown together with the danger, they become close, realizing they have a lot in common. At first, they both try to avoid each other because each has a secret.
EC: Next book?
EG: It is titled Shadows at Dusk and will be out in October of this year. Some of the characters will be mentioned but not a large part of the story. But since Autumn is the police chief readers will see her. It is about a bush pilot in Alaska. The hero will be Detective Trevor West, who was in the last book of the Rocky Mountain Courage series, Critical Alliance. He is coming to Alaska to search for his sister. He gets the help of Carrie James, one of the police officers under Autumn.
EC: THANK YOU!!
