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Till Hell Freezes Over

By Anne Barton ’57
LTD Books, 2003

In Till Hell Freezes Over, her fourth mystery novel, author Anne Barton—a.k.a. Dr. Florence Barton (’57 Vet. Med.)—takes us on a journey of murder, mystery, and intrigue with a young veterinarian, Dr. Erica Merrill.

The story takes place during a snowy winter in a backwoods logging community in north-central Idaho. After making a rural house call only to find her client missing, Merrill sets out to look for him and discovers him next door in handcuffs over the body of his murdered neighbor.

Merrill concludes the police have the wrong man after she examines the crime scene and learns that a set of snowy foot prints and other bits of circumstantial evidence are all that link him to the crime. She challenges the district attorney, who is gleeful about prosecuting the case, to look for more evidence. Instead of listening, the DA embarrasses her in front of the sheriff and his deputies, one of whom is her former high-school sweetheart.

Determined to find out what really happened, Merrill looks for clues on her own. Can she solve the murder? Can her fledgling veterinary practice survive in a community whose people don’t trust a female veterinarian? Can she battle the small-town gossip by which everyone seems to know what she is going to do before she does? And what about that old flame?

While the story contains characters that are a bit stereotypical, Barton includes so many twists and turns that it is a challenge to guess who the real culprit is. It is also a quick and enjoyable read—good for taking on a plane or curling up with in a chair for an afternoon.

—Emmy Sunleaf Widman ’02, writer and longtime contributor to Washington State Magazine