The Ice House

S & I are arguing about how this book ended up in our house at all. I think he ordered it from the library and he insists it must have been me. Whatever. It was a really good read regardless.

Three women, Phoebe Maybury, Diana Thomson and Anne Cattrell, are the residents of Streech Grange, and are under suspicion for murder. Again. Ten years ago, Phoebe's husband David disappeared conveniently into thin air but there was neither a body nor any other evidence to connect Phoebe to his murder. Now, a disgusting, decomposing, unidentifiably ravaged dead body has turned up in the ice house. Could it possibly be David Maybury? Chief Inspector Walsh is thrilled at the prospect of finally solving his first ever case. Sergeant McLoughlin is show more simply trying to get through the investigation without losing his temper and the (mostly liquid) contents of his stomach. The "three lesbians", though, are tougher and more canny opponents than either of them imagine.

I loved the characters. They're complex, each one of them, and in possession of human dignity usually denied to most fictional characters - especially the ones the writer finds politically, morally or socially questionable. No such discrimination in this book.

I also loved the story's up-to-date-cosy sensibility. It's a rural English murder mystery, but we have cell phones and internet and feminism and all that jazz. Good to see a genre like this one keeping up with the times. (Though, since I don't read mysteries that often, I might be giving this book too much credit for something that may be standard fare these days. Please enlighten me if that's the case.)

The plot is meaty and juicy and other carnivorous-sounding adjectives as well. Also it has the requisite twists, though none that will actually blow your stockings off. Maybe enough to make a couple of ladders spontaneously appear. Adequate.

What I found questionable was the personality transplant one of the main characters got about halfway through the novel, apparantly SOLELY for the purpose of turning that character into a believable love interest for another main character. Nah, not buying it. And I despair at YET another romance that begins with the couple just drop dead hating each other at first sight.

Much more problematic is the use of omniscient 3rd person POV. This author hops from one character's head to another's within the space of single, unbroken paragraphs, and inserts statements that are clearly the *authorial* voice in addition, so that very often I was confused about what was going on. For example, take the sentence:

"He hung on to her every word adoringly."

This could mean very different things depending on who is thinking it. If the author is telling me this, I will take it as a simple statement of fact: the guy is smitten. If this is the woman's observation, I'll take it with a slight pinch of salt, because no person is a perfectly accurate judge of what's going on in another person's head. If the man is telling me this, I'll take it with a huge pinch of salt because he has been shown to be deliberately deceptive in the past.

The context and placement of this sentence gave me no way of knowing from whose point of view it was written. And there are many more such instances throughout the book, which made for a somewhat confusing read at times, until I stopped letting it bug me too much. show less

Hard to believe this is a first novel. First published, I should say.

This is the second I have read by Walters.

Well-crafted, complicated plot. Interesting and absorbing characters. The book reminded me of English mysteries of years ago, from the 1930s - 1950s, approximately. The scene of a group of adults together in a large house, dealing at times with the surrounding small village of characters, made me think of Agatha Christie. But a decidedly updated Christie, especially in terms of language and sex. The police have a tendency to ignore rules, for both good and bad reasons, which also differs from Christie (although her private detectives were the primary investigators).

A badly decomposed body is found in an ice house on a large show more estate. The estate is owned by Phoebe Maybury, who was investigated relentlessly ten years ago, when her husband went missing. Living with her are two close friends: Diana Goode, artist, and Anne Cattrell, writer. Chief Inspector Walsh is hoping this is the body of Phoebe's husband, as he assumes she did him in. With him is Detective Sergeant McLoughlin, an intelligent and attractive detective who tends toward arrogance.

A large part of the story is the discovery of the identity of the body, but the detectives must ferret out who might have been there and who might have known about the ice house, regardless. So the investigation takes in the three women, who are known to be difficult - and attractive - and about whom rumors swarm. The detectives also track down leads that take them to several places in the area and somewhat beyond, and different possible stories emerge.

McLoughlin takes center stage as chief investigator, and finds himself oddly drawn to the witty, observant, and wily Anne. His words, and then his moves, go farther and farther away from proper police form, and he has to hide his transgressions to stay on the case.

So is it Marbury? And if so, did the women kill him? Or is it someone else and if so, how are the cases linked? Must they be linked? It's a beautifully complicated plot that gave me little sleep one night. Also like many of Christie's mysteries, this one has a romantic subplot, but "romantic" may be too cosy a word for it. show less

Finally, I'm beginning to read Minette Walters. It's a delight that I've been denying myself since I've been busy with a bunch of other books and series. I've seen some of these dramatized on television, and thought they were great, if a bit creepy! The dramatizations were good, but this book was great! It's been awhile since I've read a book that kept me spellbound throughout the whole thing. I love Ms. Walters' characterizations. Her depiction of the three women of Streech Grange is remarkable. These women are so real, and so are the secrets that they are hiding. We also get a wonderful example of two cops that are as different as can be. Inspector Walsh is a man possessed with a hidden agenda of his own, and Sergeant McLoughlin is a show more real enigma at the beginning, but turns out to be a tower of strength and rectitude. A new take on "Good Cop, Bad Cop" for sure. I simply can't wait to read the next book after enjoying this one so much. show less

A man is found dead in an estate's ice house and the women who live there - members of a lesbian witch coven, according to village gossip - are the main suspects, until DS McLoughlin figures out that something is seriously awry, not only with the suspects, but with the victim and, indeed, with everyone else in the village. I did enjoy the mystery a lot, the characters are quite interesting and original, and the locale feels authentic. My problem was that I had a hard time rooting for any of the characters - McLoughlin did grow on me a little, but not enough. It's very good for a debut, though, so I wouldn't be opposed to trying Walters again, but I won't go looking. I do have to say that the audio version is read brilliantly by Simon show more Prebble, if you can ignore an iffy Scottish dialect. show less

Unbelievable first book - so deft in the character development, with a tight plot with a good pace and lots of red herrings and possible suspects.

The thing that impresses me so much is that this is a masterful psychological study (of the 3 women room-mates, their lovers, children, enemies, and the townspeople) - on a par with Elizabeth George (though much more wry and mischeivous) and with a more ambitious who-done-it aspect.

My only quibble was with the relationship between Anne and McLoughlin. It had SO much potential, being built on the foundations of their failures and past hurts, and getting off to that smoldering start with the furious kiss from McL that's half overwhelming desire and half anger. And then...it morphs into a show more sweeter thing, which is just fine with me, but them bumps along with each pissing off the other over very pedestrian quibbles. Then back on track for a tender denoument. I guess that while I would prefer a storyline that has them burning through their pasts/troubles in a firy compulsive affair, I could go for a more conventional love too, I just really didn't care for the jolting around.

I don't know if any of these characters come back in future books, but it wouldn't be a bad idea; the ensemble could certainly hold up. I'm trying to decide now if I should read her books in order or jump around...she is certainly prolific and - from the web site - looks like an appealing person too... show less

A twisty, convoluted mystery that kept me guessing, though I did find some of the red herrings and explication a bit hard to follow.

The premise is wonderful - a corpse that defies identification, found in an unlikely, hardly detetable place - an ice house overgrown with brambles as to be unseen.
Very good character development combined with a stimulating plot. Amusing sexual innuendos abound and although this is my first book by Minette Walters, I have heard that this is one of her trademarks.

Included in the story are several subplots and one or two red herrings, as the author grips the reader with a literate and compelling narrative. We are not even sure if the 'good guys', in this case the three women accused of murder, are really as innocent as we'd like to believe.

My only criticism is that the denouement was presented in a way that seemed anti-climactic, and I show more had a premonition of the way it would end.
Still, a unique and compelling mystery that I enjoyed very much - I will definitely be reading more by Ms. Walters show less