When romantic novelist Jane Lovell escapes London for the peace of an Essex village, she expects quiet lanes, crackling fires, and time to write. For a while, Ash Green obliges; the biggest drama is a leaky church roof. Then a stranger arrives at a nearby farm, whispers ripple through the village, and winter tightens its grip. As the snow melts, it reveals something far darker: a body hidden in the undergrowth. The police are baffled. The rumours multiply. And Jane's curiosity - along with that of her indomitable Aunt Molly and the attractive local doctor Jim Darling - refuses to be satisfied. Who are the unfamiliar lads lurking by the garage? What do they have to do with enigmatic Major Brent of Totting Hall? And is the stranger the key to it all, or merely a distraction? When a second death shatters the village calm, Jane realises that Ash Green's picture-postcard tranquillity masks a dangerous truth...and that amateur sleuthing can come at a cost. Set in the early 1990s and blending Golden Age crime and late twentieth-century international intrigue, After the Thaw is a cosy mystery with a warming dash of romance - perfect for readers who love clever puzzles, close-knit communities, and secrets buried just beneath the snow.