Cover of Cold Water Testimony

Crime · Thriller · Psychological

Cold Water Testimony

Jonas Halberg

The lake gave back everything except the truth.

Nine winters after a confession that convicted the wrong man, a detective returns to the frozen lake where it was signed, and finds the ice has kept a second story.

Reading time
6 h 8 min read
Pages
342
Language
English
Recommended
18+
4.5 · 1,108 readers
Watch preview Hardcover $39Digital $13
Wishlist ShareIncludes the original case appendix.
HardcoverDigitalAudiobook — coming soon

Story world

Hjelmstad, a mining town of four thousand where the lake freezes in November and every family has a reason to keep it frozen.

ConfessionComplicitySmall townsAtonementCold furyRegretSuspense

Characters

  • Inspector Rune Falk

    Investigator

    Took the original confession.

  • Marit Sund

    Witness

    Was twelve years old and remembers everything.

  • Eskil Vang

    The convicted

    Never once said he was innocent.

Timeline

  1. Winter, nine years ago

    Eskil signs the confession at the lake's edge.

  2. Two years later

    Marit writes a letter she does not send.

  3. This winter

    The lake freezes early.

Preview

A fifteen-second trailer, then the opening pages as they were first printed.

Trailer coming soon

The reading preview is below

Opening pages

A confession is a shape a person is pressed into.

Falk had done the pressing, and for nine years he had told himself the shape had fit.

End of preview

Soundtrack

  1. 01Ice Forming
  2. 02Four Thousand Silences
  3. 03Testimony

Reader reviews

  • “Bleak, precise, humane. A masterclass in restraint.”

    Petra N.

  • “The town is the crime. Superb.”

    Onno B.