I could see what this book was trying to do, but it didn't quite succeed in execution. I was never convinced that Cain was any kind of villain, murderer, etc. - he simply wasn't developed enough as a character for me to draw any conclusions at all. And as much as the author tried to make us believe there was chemistry between him and our main character, I simply never felt it. The time-travel technology seemed internally inconsistent. What I was quite satisfied with, however, was the present-day mystery and its conclusion. While I wouldn't seek out a sequel for this one, it wasn't a bad read as a standalone.

United States Publication: July 8, 2025

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Viking Penguin | Pamela Dorman Books for this advanced reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

DS Ali Dawson is enjoying her late-in-life career as a copper, specifically serving on a cold case team. But this isn't just any cold case unit; this is a department that, yes, investigates cold cases. However, the way they go about it is unconventional, potentially controversial, and definitely would have its skeptics if their methods were revealed. Ali and her team time-travel to solve these cold cases. They are so cold, they are frozen—as the department likes to say. So far, Ali and the team have only traveled as far back as the 1970s to gather evidence, and they've only stayed in the past for no longer than an hour. It's early days with the discovery that time travel is possible, so what would happen to someone who stayed in a different time for longer than an hour is unknown. The other restriction to this department's investigations is that any evidence they discover in the past has to be found in the present if they want to reopen the case for solving. The team is not allowed to bring anything from the past into the present; they are only allowed to observe and note where the evidence might be found in the present.

When politician Isaac Templeton approaches the team, asking if they can travel back to 1850 and clear his great-great-grandfather's name from the murder of three women, and requests Ali be the one to travel, the team accepts once their scientist, Jones, says she believes it's possible. After weeks of research and preparation, Ali travels to 1850 for an hour. At least that was the plan. But when her return to 2023 doesn't happen as planned, Ali finds herself stranded in 1850 while the team in 2023 scrambles to figure out how to get her back. Meanwhile, in 2023, Ali's son Finn is grassed up when Isaac Templeton is found murdered. Are the two circumstances connected? Can the rumors about Cain Templeton have something to do with the death of his great-great-grandson 173 years later? If so, how?

It will take some diligent science and police work to unravel the Templeton family and retrieve Ali from 1850 so she can return home to Finn and help him prove his innocence on this side of time.
Having said farewell to Ruth Galloway, Griffiths says hello to Ali Dawson. The two women are similar in that they both travel to the past to help solve the present. One does so figuratively through her career as an archaeologist, and the other does so literally through the science of time travel. While I haven't read all of the titles Griffiths has authored (but it is a goal of mine), I believe this is the first time she has attempted using science fiction. And her attempt is successful, in my opinion. The idea of solving cold, ahem frozen, cases using time travel is smart. But, as Griffiths includes in her story, it has some restrictions and boundaries. Ali Dawson is a confident, no-nonsense yet compassionate character. I like that Griffiths has created her to be in the second part of her life, both in career and life experiences. How the first book in this new series ends has me scratching my head over what the time gap between books 1 and 2, within the series, will be. I can't say more, or I'll be a spoiler. I'm really pleased to be starting this series as it begins. While I wait for Griffiths to write and publish book 2, I can always read all the other books she's authored, as I've become a massive fan of hers.

There's a lot left unexplained in here dealing with the time travel part. It's easy to do when you suggest it's all handled by a brilliant physicist who doesn't give too much of the mechanics away. That adage about if you time travel you should only observe, because even a small interaction can change the present timeline.

Well... whoops. The previous trips the team was invisible and couldn't interact with people. This one, Ali is stranded in 1850 as a "real" person and needs to survive there until a new portal can be opened. Of course that changes things, but by the end of the book it doesn't appear to have changed too much. Since this is the first in a series, there might be more disruption than we now know. As for the mystery Ali is sent back to help resolve, well, it's pretty standard.

The depiction of life in 1850 is well-done with the exception of the infamous London fog. The food, the clothes are all researched and it might surprise people to read how different those are from today.

eARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.

No matter if you are an avid or a novice reader of Victorian age books, Frozen People will appeal to you. The novice will be easily immersed into the era with Griffith’s adaption of time travel. The avid reader will experience many unexpected turns and this should be the start of a long evolving series.

Thank you Netgalley and Pamela Dorman Books for providing me with a digital review copy.

I guess I'm abandoning this book at 70%. I enjoyed the time travel, but felt the book missed the mark on the older mystery. I just couldn't wrap my head around why the government would care enough to send people back in time to solve a mystery that has little impact on modern life. I wasn't sure about the attraction/love interest in this book--that was a little strange.

4 stars - The “Frozen People” is the likely start of a brand-new series by award-winning author Elly Griffiths, and since I never really read her most famous series, I decided to try it. I also like time-travel & mysteries, so appreciated the concept of this genre-blender, set in 1850 Victorian London. I really liked the FMC, Ali, a modern, cold case investigator who makes the time jump. There is a LOT going on in this to keep up with but it does get all tied together very well. I will read another, for sure. Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for my advance reader’s copy - greatly appreciate the opportunity to get it early!

This was my first Elly Griffith's novel and it probably won't be my last, especially if this becomes a series. Loved the time travel premise and Ali's character. It was nice that she was older and written realistically. Such a great read. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I'll read anything Elly Griffiths writes. The Frozen People is a bit of a departure for Griffiths, as it is a little science fictiony. The plot revolves around a somewhat secret department of police officers and a scientist that tackles cold cases in a new way--by using time travel! Ali, our FMC, has been personally requested by a high-powered government official to go back in time to investigate his great great great grandfather, who was rumored to have been a member of a kind of cult and to have murdered several women. The problem is, Ali will have to go back to 1850, way farther back than any of them have traveled before, so no one really knows how well it will work, or what will happen to Ali.

In addition to the cold case, something happens in the present that Ali and the team must investigate as well, and this one hits close to home.

Griffiths has a way of making you care about her characters in a short period of time. It's easy to get invested in her stories, and this one is no exception. I also enjoyed the descriptions of life in England in 1850.

My only quibble with this book is that it seemed to finish too quickly. Some things are left a bit open-ended, as expected in a new series opener.

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Group/Viking Penguin, and Elly Griffiths for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley and Viking Penguin, for the ARC of this novel.

Hooray! A new story from Elly Griffiths and this one takes us on a new type of adventure. The Frozen People has all the things I've come to love about Elly Griffiths stories - grounded in family (biological and chosen) and relatable people, dilemmas dealing with those same relationships, twists and turns that keep you guessing to the end. But it also has a fantastical twist that marries the mystery with history in a new way for Griffiths with time travel. I actually requested the title without really knowing that was an element of the story and was absolutely delighted.

Ali is part of a very secret cold case detective team that only a tiny number of 'higher-ups' in the UK government even know it exists and what they actually do. Even Ali's son, Finn, isn't aware of exactly what his mother does - that is until she gets stuck in 1850 London and no one is quite sure how to get her back. Time travel is still relatively new and all the kinks have yet to be worked out. Ali bides her time by trying to focus on the case, not realizing that back in her current time, another murder has happened and the two are related - literally.

For history lovers and detective story readers alike, this is a fun, new path for one of our favorite writers.

This falls very solidly between the author's previous series, Ruth Galloway which was ok and Harbinder Kaur which I loved. This has all the makings of a great story but somehow felt a bit loose and unconstructed to me. Great characters - yay! Cold cases - yay! Great mystery - yay! Time travel - yay! While I really don't want to be bogged down with science, I did find myself needing to understand just a little of how the time travel was working. Without that it felt like just a bit of an add-on and more of a means to an end in terms of plot. What I did really enjoy was the mystery itself. Very much kept me guessing right up to the end and gave me a pretty good surprise!

Ali Dawson, a career police officer, joins a new law enforcement division that specializes in solving cold cases. She is shocked to realize that in order to do that, the officers in this secretive division must travel in time! The author makes all this (set in the present day) seem natural and believable. Ali has made a few time travel trips, but only back a few years, and never alone. When a prominent government official specifically requests for her to go back to 1850s Victorian London to clear the name of his ancestor, who was accused of killing three women, she prepares extensively, and goes. She's successful, until it is time to return, where there is a glitch. In the meantime, her son, who works as an advisor to the official, is accused of murder, and only Ali can provide the evidence needed to clear his name. But first she has to get back to the present. Great mystery, great story!

This is my first Elly Griffiths book, and I really liked it. I'm a sucker for time travel, but it can often be poorly written or overly complicated. This book is neither! It is fun, an easy to understand time travel premise that let me focus on the characters and the mystery. Ali is a London police officer attached to a unit solving cold cases by using time travel to go back and observe the past. While traveling to 1850 investigating a murder there, her son is charged with murder in the present. As the story unravels, clues, and people, from the past pop up. A satisfying conclusion, interesting characters, fun premise and overall an easy, fast paced read.

Time travel is a new frontier for Griffiths-not my favorite genre. The present day Ali works in an office devoted to cold cases. Their methods of solving these crimes involves time travel. Ali is taked with going back to 1850 to ascertain if a rising Tory's ancestor was a serial killer-he doesn't want any skeletons in the closet as he hopes of becoming a PM. Not my cup of tea-give me Ruth!

Huge Elly Griffiths fan here! I was very cautious to read this new title because of the description and the move into a fantastical element (time travel), as I have loved Griffiths' other mystery novels. At first, I thought this couldn't be the first novel of a series because of references to previous events, and I stopped three times to check and make sure this wasn't a sequel. However, once I settled in, I was hooked. Elly's style and plot development are as good as it has always been, and the move into time travel began to feel just as normal as any regular police work. I'm looking forward to enjoying this series as much as I did her others!

A new series by Elly Griffiths and I’m all in! The plot was a bit convoluted at times given that it’s a mystery, historical fiction, and science fiction with time travel all put together. And there were some questions left unanswered. But, as always with this author, the writing was superb, the settings interesting and the characters relatable and well-developed. Looking forward to the next installment.

Ali is a police officer in London allegedly working cold cases, but she's also involved in a top secret project: time travel. Her group is asked by an important politician to travel back to 1850 to find out if his ancestor was really a murderer. She's transported, but the plans for getting her back to the present don't work as they are supposed to. Without spoiling the plot it's difficult to say more, but this is a very different kind of writing for Elly Griffiths. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

As a devoted fan of Ruth and Nelson in the Ruth Galloway series, I had such high hopes for this new book. The premise sounded so interesting - time travel to Victorian London. What could go wrong? I’m still pondering that myself. Maybe I was missing the quirky characters associated with Ruth. But I did love the relationship between Ali and her son who bravely fought for each other when both appeared to be “lost.” I’m not giving up on this new series, however. I’ll be there bright and early for Ali’s next time travel adventure!
Rounding up to 3.5

I could not finish reading this book . I’m not really into detective/police series . Maybe I will try again in the future but for now I will move on to another story.

I am a fan of Griffiths' Ruth Galloway series so I was very interested to read this, the first in what (seemingly) is a planned new series. The premise has a sci-fi component- the main character Ali Dawson is a policewoman in the cold case unit, but the twist is they actually travel back in time to observe/investigate right after the murder takes place. Dawson travels back in time to investigate such a case (arriving in the 1800s to observe the dead body on the floor- I suppose if she had arrived just before the murder and seen who did it it would be a short book!).
In addition to the mystery she's investigating in the 1800s, a murder occurs in present day which she also needs to solve.
I enjoyed the story and the writing was decent. Ali Dawson has some Mary Sueish elements, such as captivating seemingly every man that encounters her despite the fact she's 50something. The plot was a bit oddly paced, as the present day murder wasn't introduced for some time and was wrapped up very abruptly. The 1800's plotline sort of got dropped, and was never resolved, as it clearly is meant to be carried over to the next book. I'd say it's an intriguing start to a new series- there's definitely enough there that would make me interested to check out the next installment!

I'm still hurting over the fact that we might not get any more Ruth Galloway books (at least soon). I was hoping for this new mystery--the first in a series--to fill the gaping hole left by Ruth, Nelson, Cathbad, and Co., but I was a bit disappointed by this one. I'll give it another try and will pick up the next one in the series, but as cool as the concept sounded I'm not sure if this is the book for me.