Book Review: Doctor Who - Dead of Winter

James Goss is another interesting writer I’ve encountered during my time with extended Doctor Who media. He’s got a vast number of credits both as a writer and a producer on Doctor Who and its adult-orientated spin off; Torchwood. One of his contributions to the written media of the franchise comes in the form of his 11th Doctor New Series Adventure novel; Dead of Winter which was originally published in 2011. 

The premise behind Dead of Winter follows The Doctor, Amy and Rory as they find themselves at an elaborate clinic on the coast of Italy in the late 1700’s. Their arrival at the clinic comes off the back of the TARDIS being drawn into a mysterious energy source. As they explore the clinic, they begin to learn about the miraculous healing powers of Dr Bloom, who is able to cure his patients of all of their deadly diseases. While Dr Bloom’s intentions seem earnest, The Doctor can’t help but feel there is something sinister behind his impossible abilities and it’s all tied to the nearby sea. As the TARDIS crew spend more time in the clinic, they begin to pick apart the cracks in idyllic environment they must work against time to solve the mystery before time runs out and they become residents of the clinic on a far more permanent basis.

The narrative structure of this novel is both its biggest strength, yet also its greatest weakness. It’s a really compelling setup on a lot of different levels. The idea of the Doctor and crew being absolutely out of their elements and having to struggle to piece together the mystery serves for a interesting premise. The mystery in itself is smartly established in a way that feels easy to follow at the start but that intrigue soon falls apart as you get further into the books pages. Goss can’t seem to help himself with dragging out the reveals of this plot in a rather inconsistent manner. While the characters in themselves are interesting in the way they’re established, their weight in the story is teetered on and off constantly and it makes keeping a firm grasp on details far harder. The monster element of the story is very well done however as Goss does a great job in exploring the ghostly aura of the narrative with some great descriptions.  The format of which the story is told serves as one of it’s more attractive components too as it’s told through first-person diary and letter extracts. Telling the story through the perspective of the characters in a recounting fashion can often lead to bias interpretation but Goss utilizes this format in a way that does work for the purpose of his story. 

The books pacing is another weaker factor to consider too. While the story starts out strong with a slow burn, Goss seems to pick up speed then slow down on a constant basis. When this type of storytelling is done right, I don’t tend to mind it, but for me the fact he stops and starts over and over becomes more hindering to deal with than engaging. It’s a very slow crawl of a mystery which can offer its perks, it’s just a shame Goss didn’t deliver on its pace all that well. As for tone the book does delve into a lot of gothic horror quite well. I really like how much Goss uses horror within the confines of this book to make the story feel that much more distinct. I also feel the maturity of this book is even more notable compared to prior ones I’ve read and it’s delivered in a way which meets the narratives hefty requirements effectively. 

Despite my major gripes with the story’s structure and inconsistent pacing I would still highly recommend Dead of Winter. James Goss delivers a truly unique story which does everything it needs to do in order to deliver a very spooky reading experience. It’s clear Goss gets the concept of Doctor Who quite intimately at this point and I do look forward to picking up and experiencing more of his work in the future.