Reading Group Questions for A COLD AND LONELY PLACE
1. The novel opens with the discovery of a body—someone Troy knew but didn’t particularly like. Her first reaction is to notify her roommate Jessamyn. Would you have done anything differently?
2. The Saranac Lake community seems tightly knit, capable of keeping secrets and cutting off outsiders. Troy thinks she’s in a better position to find answers than the state police. Do you agree? Should she have involved the police more?
3. Other than the newspaper assignment, what do you think compels Troy to keep digging? How do her professional responsibilities affect her personal relationships, and vice versa?
4. Troy’s brother Simon says that her loyalty is her blind spot. Did you find this to be true? Which friendships are most important to her? Is she too quick to trust some people, such as Win, Dean, or David?
5. Troy, Win, and Jessamyn bond through a traumatic experience. Do you think they would have become friends under different circumstances? What assumptions do they make about each other, and about other women?
6. Jessamyn never talks about her past. Have you ever known someone who you thought might have had a difficult background, as Troy thinks Jessamyn did? Did you encourage them to talk about it? Should Troy have tried to get Jessamyn to talk earlier?
7. How do you feel Troy evolved or grew during the course of this novel? If you’ve read the first novel in this series, Learning to Swim, how do you think that book’s events affected her actions here?
8. Troy describes how Jessamyn changed once she started dating Tobin: “Falling for him meant giving up a big chunk of herself.” Troy values her own independence, but sometimes she wishes she weren’t so logical about love. What were some of the significant sacrifices she and others made for their loved ones? Did you think they were worth it?
9. Did your feelings about Tobin change, and how? How do you think his life would have turned out had he not died? How did his parents’ actions affect him and his choices?
10. Which characters did you trust more than others, and why? Were you surprised by the resolution of the mysteries? What do you think about Troy and Win’s decision not to tell Jessamyn or the Winslows about Cadey?
11. How does the title illustrate the themes of the book, besides the Adirondacks sometimes being a “cold and lonely place”?
12. What do you think might be next for Troy Chance? And for the other characters?
2. The Saranac Lake community seems tightly knit, capable of keeping secrets and cutting off outsiders. Troy thinks she’s in a better position to find answers than the state police. Do you agree? Should she have involved the police more?
3. Other than the newspaper assignment, what do you think compels Troy to keep digging? How do her professional responsibilities affect her personal relationships, and vice versa?
4. Troy’s brother Simon says that her loyalty is her blind spot. Did you find this to be true? Which friendships are most important to her? Is she too quick to trust some people, such as Win, Dean, or David?
5. Troy, Win, and Jessamyn bond through a traumatic experience. Do you think they would have become friends under different circumstances? What assumptions do they make about each other, and about other women?
6. Jessamyn never talks about her past. Have you ever known someone who you thought might have had a difficult background, as Troy thinks Jessamyn did? Did you encourage them to talk about it? Should Troy have tried to get Jessamyn to talk earlier?
7. How do you feel Troy evolved or grew during the course of this novel? If you’ve read the first novel in this series, Learning to Swim, how do you think that book’s events affected her actions here?
8. Troy describes how Jessamyn changed once she started dating Tobin: “Falling for him meant giving up a big chunk of herself.” Troy values her own independence, but sometimes she wishes she weren’t so logical about love. What were some of the significant sacrifices she and others made for their loved ones? Did you think they were worth it?
9. Did your feelings about Tobin change, and how? How do you think his life would have turned out had he not died? How did his parents’ actions affect him and his choices?
10. Which characters did you trust more than others, and why? Were you surprised by the resolution of the mysteries? What do you think about Troy and Win’s decision not to tell Jessamyn or the Winslows about Cadey?
11. How does the title illustrate the themes of the book, besides the Adirondacks sometimes being a “cold and lonely place”?
12. What do you think might be next for Troy Chance? And for the other characters?
