Reviews

This was Minette Walters first book. It was not up to the standards of her subsequent books and was only ok. I think she gained skill as she kept writing and this book is a great argument for why publishers should help develop fledgling writers.

radioactiv's review against another edition

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2.5

The book was fine overall - an interesting plot that kept me on my toes written by a skilled author. Better writing style than most.

That said, the characterization in The Ice-House was a bit confusing. The characters have a good amount of depth - there are motivations, certainly, in the actions of the main characters. That said, it didn't seem quite life-like to me. I can't imagine there are many people who go around quoting Robert Burns poems. Seriously, how many people have "To a Louse" memorized? And Sgt. McLoughlin had a dramatic personality shift partway through the novel that seemed incredibly abrupt, even with the details of his personal life. Some of the other characters were a bit inconsistent as well, but McLoughlin was pretty bad.

The changes in POV were confusing at times. As another reviewer noted, the book is in 3rd person omniscient and changes between characters often. As such, the book is from the POV of one character in one paragraph and a different one (sometimes in a different location) for the next. I'd start to attribute dialogue to one character, realize that character couldn't be speaking (or had suddenly developed a penchant for speaking in third person), and would end up re-reading the paragraph.

As a side note, I don't really know if I'd categorize this as a "cozy mystery", which is what my book jacket says - though it also misspells Anne's name. It's a bit darker than most cozies and there's no amateur sleuth character. Additionally, it wasn't much of a whodunnit, where you actively guess who murdered the victim, as much of the story is spent trying to figure out whose body is in the ice house. Don't expect Agatha Christie style clues and hints.

crazeedi73's review against another edition

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4.0

Great book, I've read a couple other books by this author, and I will read more. I like that the assistant DI is the protagonist in the book. Phoebe Maybury was accused of killing her husband 10 years ago, but not by police. The community ostracized her after he disappeared. Now a body is found in the ice house and everyone thinks its David. Lots of twists make the plot very intriguing.

rainnbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

The Ice House is crafted with such ingenuity and flair that am at a loss to describe this book. The story is written from many different perspectives and initially all characters seem to muddle together in our brains, but once the pace is set, you are literally in a race to find out the truth.
Brilliant!

c_lindsay's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

sinds's review against another edition

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3.0

There were some good, intriguing things about this book: the three women's friendship and how they all had each other's backs, the intertwining mysteries, the growth of the one police officer. But I did not appreciate the author using queerness as bait: there is so much homophobia in this towards the three women, but the homophobia is never actually reckoned with, in part because the women all end up being straight after all. (I know this is part of the time period in which this was written, but still.) I also found the writing style a bit stilted which made this tough to get into, but that may also be the time period.

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