Our fascination with time travel was officially sparked with the 1895 release of H.G. Wells’ THE TIME MACHINE. That fervor has continued through modern times in classic films like Back to the Future and bestselling novels like THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE. Now, with THE FROZEN PEOPLE, Elly Griffiths has made her own mark in one of my favorite subgenres.

Griffiths has stepped away from her Ruth Galloway mysteries to bring us an entirely new series with a lead character who is just as engaging as Galloway. The year is 2023, and Alison “Ali” Dawson works as a DCI with a British cold case team. Some of these cases are so old that they are jokingly referred to as being frozen. But Ali’s team is unlike any other cold case investigative squad on the planet, which is due to the highly unique method they use to dive into the past to search for answers.

"THE FROZEN PEOPLE is simply brilliant, and I am sure its success will merit a lengthy series that allows readers to spend more time with Ali Dawson and all of these wonderful new characters."

Ali's 30-year-old son, Finn, has a posh job working for Isaac Templeton, who is being talked up as a potential future Prime Minister. He and the highly secretive work that Ali does will soon converge and propel this book into an exciting and perplexing adventure. The leader of Ali’s team is a brilliant Italian woman who simply goes by the name Jones. She has developed a way to move atoms in space and essentially transport people back in time. Initially, they have only been able to do it for a few moments, and those who are propelled back cannot be seen. Now, the demand to solve some incredibly old cases has caused them to up the ante and physically send visible agents back in time for a brief period.

The team puts together a charter that they all must abide by: 1. Watch 2. Bear Witness 3. Don’t Interact 4. Stay Safe. Unfortunately, all of these statutes are about to be broken when Ali volunteers to be sent back to the year 1850 on a mission specially requested by Isaac. His ancestor, Cain, was rumored to have led a clandestine group of men known as The Collectors. Membership was said to have been the abduction and murder of a woman. Isaac needs to know if Cain deserves to be labeled something akin to a serial killer from the Victorian era.

Ali must do a lot of research to prepare for this mission, in addition to being outfitted with a working wardrobe and personal items that will allow her to seamlessly fit into 1850 society. She begins by going back to her collegiate alma mater where she meets with museum curator Ed Crane and her former mentor in ancient history studies, Elizabeth Henderson.

The jump is successful, but there is a slight problem. Ali misses her reentry time, which must happen very methodically at the exact place where she entered, so she is temporarily trapped until her team figures out a way to bring her back. Meanwhile, she not only finds Cain but interacts with him. She rents a room at the building he owns where he makes space available to any artist or creator who needs somewhere to stay. A young woman recently had been murdered there, and the alleged killer was Thomas Creek, a resident of Cain’s building. Ali begins to realize that Cain may have gotten a bad wrap in the annals of history, and it may be Creek who was killing women in a way that was attributed to mythical fiends such as the legendary Spring-heeled Jack.

Back in 2023, things are not much better as Isaac is found shot to death at his country home. After a brief investigation, the police have arrested Finn as the main suspect. When Ali eventually returns following a selfless act by her colleague, she immediately dives into the murder case surrounding Isaac and her son. Could the killer have had some connection to her time spent in 1850? It is this question that drives the finale of this outstanding novel and will keep readers on the edge of their seats straight through to the end.

THE FROZEN PEOPLE is simply brilliant, and I am sure its success will merit a lengthy series that allows readers to spend more time with Ali Dawson and all of these wonderful new characters. The benefit of time travel stories is that there is a seemingly endless number of possible plotlines that may be explored, which a talented writer like Elly Griffiths certainly will capitalize on.