Reviews

The Ice House by Minette Walters

dieseidelmine's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

Witty conversation, likeable main characters and plot that ties together nicely in the end. Enjoyed reading this

quirkilybookish's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

an engaging mystery and a decent quick holiday read. turns tropes on their head and is progressive in some ways, enough so that some dated language didn’t bother me too much. still, a side effect of making everyone look suspicious means they are written quite inconsistently and none are particularly likeable. this undermines a lot of the interesting social commentary as most male characters have near constant misogynistic thoughts but are constantly lecturing each other for them. still, the women are arguably the most well developed and interesting characters, and the novel challenges a lot of sexist crime tropes so I can see why the blurbs applaud it as a progressive debut in the genre at the time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Child abuse

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Violence, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Sexism

Minor: Eating disorder and Car accident

homohobia/lesbophobia:

one detective character is extremely homophobic when the three female characters are believed to be lesbians, convinced they are guilty, even assaulting one of them. he later completely changes his tune when it is established they are firmly heterosexual and the most raging feminist of the lot (whom he assaulted) falls for him. at the end of the novel he lectures another character for hatecriming them, where the overall tone is that the violence was undeserved solely because they were never truly lesbians.

all of this is said through slurs, mind you. also, it is joked that the later homophobic character is secretly gay. CSA:

one character was routinely sexually assaulted by her father as a child. it is discussed contextually but is an event of the past and the act is not written. the character is written respectfully in contrast to much crime fiction, and is quite articulate about her trauma and shows strength not expected by other characters. she is not a tragic victim or an object of overwhelming pity, nor a device solely for plot movement without her own character.

alrey's review against another edition

dark mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

lisaeirene's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed most of this book. I felt like the character development was superb. I liked the dialogue. The ending fell flat for me.

booklover2312's review against another edition

dark mysterious

3.0

jaee_s's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

thomas_wright's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

i loved this book ive enjoyed all minette Walters books that ive tried so far i obviously can't mention anything about it as i don't want to give spoilers but i can't wait to see the tv mini series adaptation 

saramicholas's review against another edition

2.0

had to check to see if this was written by a woman….just so much to unpack here. could’ve been a really good mystery without the misogyny and homophobic shit.
also only read this in my pursuit to read all the books on my bookshelf – most of which i didn’t buy myself but was given because of a garage sale happening in my neighborhood when i was a kid. thank god i waited like ten years to read this one.

kalkie's review against another edition

3.0

This is an interesting read and a good "whodunnit". Minette Walters keeps the pace of the book going, with just enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing the ending too quickly. Sometimes I felt a little bogged down in details, but on the whole I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It's not too taxing, but perfect as a holiday read or for curling up in front of the fire with one night.

ingera's review against another edition

5.0

De