'Queen of the chiller thriller' – Veronica Henry, Sunday Times bestselling author of One Night at the Château

'A breathtaking thriller with an evocative setting and some excellent twists – Ruth Kelly at her best' – Catherine Cooper, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Chalet

From bestselling author Ruth Kelly, The Ice Retreat is a spine-tingling thriller set in the world of controversial wellness treatments. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Sarah Pearse.

HEALER?

Meet Hollie Jenson, presenter of the smash-hit docu-series Bad Medicine, which exposes the perils of extreme therapies. Her next target: a new retreat run by wellness guru Ariel Rose, who claims to have discovered the secret to healing pain through her three-day ice rebirth treatment.

LIAR?

Acting on a mother's plea to find her son, who vanished soon after his stay, Hollie ventures into the Swiss mountains where the retreat occupies a former observatory. There she will search for the boy, and hopes to expose Ariel as the charlatan she believes her to be.

KILLER?

As the isolation of the valley sets in, Hollie finds herself in an increasingly dangerous situation. There is much more to the retreat than meets the eye, and she must confront explosive secrets from her own past if she is to ever make it out alive . . .

Praise for Ruth Kelly:

'Sinister, atmospheric and deliciously chilling – with a twist that made me gasp' – Mark Edwards, bestselling author of The Darkest Water

'Deliciously addictive' – TM Logan, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Daughter

'A great thriller writer' – John Marrs, Sunday Times bestselling author of What Lies Between Us

'Page-turning' – BP Walter, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Dinner Guest

'I loved every page of this delicious thriller' – Caroline Corcoran, Sunday Times bestselling author of Through The Wall

'Beautifully paced and darkly twisted' – Katy Brent, bestselling author of How To Kill Men and Get Away With It

'THE thriller you need to read this winter!' – Sara Ochs, author of The Resort

'Addictive' – Woman's Weekly

'Original and well-told' – Daily Mail

'Tantalizing twists' – Heat

'A pacy page-turner' – Woman & Home

Sinister, atmospheric and deliciously chilling - with a twist that made me gasp -- Mark Edwards, author of The Darkest Water
Prepare for a heart-racing read with this brilliant thriller! * The Sun *
Queen of the chiller thriller -- Veronica Henry, author of The Secret Beach
One of the most successful parts of the story is the illustration of how vulnerable people suffer chronic pain. An original and well-told tale * Daily Mail *
A breathtaking thriller with an evocative setting and some excellent twists - Ruth Kelly at her best. -- Catherine Cooper, author of The Chateau
A haunting, hugely suspenseful and compulsive read, packed with action and intrigue, I raced through the pages, while the ending left me reeling! -- A. A. Chaudhuri, author of Under Her Roof
Taking the oft-used 'danger in a remote and isolated destination' trope and then sending it nuclear, you won't see the end of this one coming * Heat *
Ends with a fun helter-skelter race to the finish line and a great twist * Observer *
A heart pounding, chilling thriller with spine tingling twists. Hits the ground running and doesn't stop until the final chapter -- John Marrs, author of The Family Experiment
Ruth Kelly is my go-to for destination thrillers -- Andrea Mara, author of No One Saw a Thing
A breathtaking thriller in an unusual setting with some incredible and unexpected events to shock the reader. This is an exhilarating read * The Mature Times *
Kelly keeps us guessing, masterfully building suspense which culminates in a shocking revelation and concludes with some thrilling action sequences . . . The Ice Retreat is a perfect escapist read for the holiday season * Crime Fiction Lover *
With a remote location inspired by the famed Piz Gloria in the Swiss Alps, The Ice Retreat is a sinister and suspenseful page-turner * Culturefly *

Ruth Kelly is a journalist who has ghosted a string of Sunday Times top ten bestsellers – with The Prison Doctor having sold over 250,000 copies, and The Governor, going straight in at number one on the Amazon charts. Her thriller The Escape was a Richard and Judy Book Club selection.

She was inspired to write The Ice Retreat after visiting the famous Piz Gloria – a revolving restaurant high in the Swiss Alps – where they filmed James Bond’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Holiday destinations feature heavily in Ruth’s thriller writing having spent most of her life traveling and exploring the world. Her family relocated to Papua New Guinea when she was seven years old and the travel bug hasn’t let up since. The threat of what lies beneath the surface and the dichotomy of how paradise can also be hell fascinates Ruth. Making a destination a character in its own right – both a friend and an enemy, not someone to be trusted – is a thread explored throughout her writing.