There are advances in technology, developments in transportation, and changes in the environment; there are also expected and unexpected complications in all areas.

It’s not just the weather that provides the chills in ‘A Winter Grave’ - this is a remote Scottish Highland village, cut off by extreme weather conditions, no means of communication, a killer that clearly knows the landscape, and uses it to his advantage, a rollercoaster of emotions for Brodie and Addie, lots of twists and turns, utter fear at times, and a completely gripping storyline. Brodie has much on his mind as the story progresses and his personal situation is appalling to imagine, but he never gives up. I don't remember Peter May previously setting any of his novels in the future, but correct me if I am wrong.While initially these threads may have felt a bit disparate, they came to flow well together for me, filling in aspects of the story as and when needed for the sake of all the characters involved. There are only a few characters involved: Cameron Brodie, his daughter, the journalist, the whistle blower, the pathologist, the policeman and the hotel owner. Cameron volunteered to investigate as he knew his estranged daughter Addie was living in Kinlochleven and he wanted to see her before it was too late.

Whereas climate change has made equatorial countries uninhabitable due to an increase in temperature, a shift in the Gulf Stream has rendered Northern Scotland an icy wilderness. We’re only a handful of decades ahead and the landscape and environmental narrative is all very plausible which makes it even the more chilling a possibility, pun intended. Many parts of the world are underwater or so hot as to be uninhabitable and the world's population is on the move. Set in the year 2051, after decades of politicians ignoring and denying the effects of climate change, the equatorial regions are now far too hot for human habitation, whole swathes of low-lying areas are totally submerged in the sea and, because of the destruction of the Gulf Stream, Scotland now suffers winters of stormy Arctic severity.

Investigating a spectacular natural ice cave, she looks up and encounters a man staring back at her, frozen into the ceiling with a terrified death mask. But why, they both wonder, was a journalist with no hill-walking experience take the difficult trail up to a high peak? With the exception of the final chapter, it was largely unimportant throughout the book and merely served as an intrusive bit of technology.

Brodie must fast his past as well as a killer who is desperate to keep secret what George Younger’s investigations had threatened to expose. Suffice it to say that this is food for thought, and if you care about the future of the world, this book is essential reading, because it is a stark reminder of what ought to be being considered. The description of this journey is spellbinding, as the drone sweeps over the utter devastation of coastal towns and the searing majesty of the Highlands, leaving the reader as buffeted between dread and wonder as the aircraft is by an incoming storm.Many areas of the world are under water; others too hot to be habitable, and if you think that there's a refugee problem now, just wait . There is also the personal background of the characters, and in the end the stories come very neatly together, although not always as the reader would hope. I have always enjoyed this authors writing and even though I wasn’t fully convinced by this novel I still enjoyed it. Il mix di futuro distopico, emergenza ambientale, ambientazione in Scozia (che però è diventata tipo Venezia), detective puro e duro con passato famigliare à la Mankell, descrizione naturalistiche come sempre mozzafiato .