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93rd out of 3,368 books
—
7,796 voters
The Ice House
With this stunning debuta marvelous marriage of classic convention and contemporary sophisticationMinette Walters sets a new standard of excellence for the mystery novel.
The three women living in seclusion at an elegant Hampshire country house have long been fodder for village gossip...even whispers of a witches' coven. So when a faceless corpse of uncertain vintage is f
...moreHardcover, 240 pages
Published
March 20th 2003
by Macmillan
(first published 1992)
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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. N...more
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. N...more
Ten years after a brutish businessman walked out on his wife and children and was never seen again, a dead and decayed body shows up in a forgotten corner of their country estate. Is it the missing husband finally discovered? And if so, is his wife – the prime suspect in the original case – really the killer?
This cross between a police procedural and a country house murder has a good and twisting plot, but suffers from the fact that many of its characters fall into the hinterland between caricat...more
This cross between a police procedural and a country house murder has a good and twisting plot, but suffers from the fact that many of its characters fall into the hinterland between caricat...more
May 15, 2008
Stephanie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
adult-fiction,
mystery
This isn't a typical formula mystery in that it is told from the perspective of the suspects as well as the police. A decomposed body is found in the ice house of a country manor. The residents of the manor, three unmarried women, have been under scrutiny of the townsfolk ever since the husband of one of the women went missing. Is the body in the ice house the missing husband? Or someone else? The real mystery is why people treat each other the way they do...
The writing in this work must be pretty solid since I was really enjoying it from the very beginning, even though I didn't like the characters, at least not the detectives, and couldn't keep track of who anyone was. That's an important feature of the work. The story unravels itself several times throughout. Just as you think you understand the characters and are getting a feel for what the story is about and the direction it's heading, a layer of the onion peels back and you're reading a differe...more
In rating this book I really tried to be fair to the author but the only way I could really do that would be to give 2 separate scores for the writing and whether or not I liked it. She's an excellent writer and probably deserves a 4 for that but I would be stretching it to give a 2 for my liking the book. It was just way too dark for my taste. I could not find a single character I could root for because they were all so unlikable. It was intelligently written and had an intricate, imaginative p...more
Sep 22, 2012
Regan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone, especially mystery fans
Recommended to Regan by:
my mother
Recently discovered mystery writer Minette Walters, and have been going through her books like candy. Among the ones I've read so far, The Ice House is among my favorites of hers, though so far, none of her novels that I've read have disappointed in any way. It's just that, this particular novel, along with Disordered Minds, The Sculptress, The Scold's Bridle and The Shape of Snakes, The Ice House takes its place among my favorite of Walters novels.
As usual with Walters, things aren't what they...more
As usual with Walters, things aren't what they...more
Sep 30, 2009
Terri
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
mystery lovers, Danielle Lewis, Staci Lyvers
Shelves:
2009
This is an excellent book. It is an excellent mystery. It kept me guessing about not only who the killer is, but also who the victim is. At the same time, it is a feat of writing that had me dusting off terms from my old English classes: irony, mood, setting, unreliable narrator... It's a rich literary work. I keep wanting to discuss it with someone, but haven't found anyone else who has read it. In reading the description on Good Reads, I discovered that this is a debut novel. Amazing! I will d...more
More of a 2.5 than a 2. 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...more
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...more
Minette Walters is a British crime fiction author of more than twelves books. The Ice House is the first of her books that I have read, and I must say that I enjoyed it immensely. It was published in 1992 by Macmillan and won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Award for best first novel. It has been translated into several languages.
A decaying body is found on the property of a woman and her two friends. This sparks the interest of the police, who has never been able to solve the myster...more
A decaying body is found on the property of a woman and her two friends. This sparks the interest of the police, who has never been able to solve the myster...more
An important new writer came onto the scene with The Ice House. Sophisticated writing, mystery and more, this is a book well worth the read. When you finish. you'll want to go direct to her next one, The Sculptress, at least I did. I look forward to her third book, The Scold's Bride. Brrr.
Walters' first novel, The Ice House, received the literary award, Crimewriter's Association New Blood Dagger, joining such impressive writers as S.J. Bolton for Before I Go To Sleep. Well deserved, IMO.
Walters' first novel, The Ice House, received the literary award, Crimewriter's Association New Blood Dagger, joining such impressive writers as S.J. Bolton for Before I Go To Sleep. Well deserved, IMO.
"Read" this as an audio book....great ending! Loved to hear the whoreallydunnit at the end, and how things came to a close. Liked it quite a bit as soon as I got used to the woman narrator doing a not-so-great job of some of the "gruff" men voices. As soon as I got over that the story went along very nicely. I think I may "read" more this way! Saved me the trouble of finding a song on the radio that I hadn't heard 4,000 times already.
I finally finished! It took a lot of work and determination to get through, but the story finallly ended. Walters worked so hard to create plot twists and turns throughout the novel, that she lost sight of the story. It's a shame because her characters were interesting. She eventually found her way because the ending of her story was well-written. The beginning and the middle were not worth the read, though.
When a body is found in an old unused ice house on an English estate, the police are called back in, and the effects of their last investigation at the estate are remembered: an investigation into a possible murder, though no body was ever found. Very good mystery, good plotting, characters, and writing. Though it contains elements that I usually shrink from -- child abuse in particular -- it was so well-written and integral to the story that I was enthralled rather than repulsed. Possibly easie...more
Mar 25, 2010
Kristy Trauzzi
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people willing to take a chance
I don't know what it was about this book. But, I loved it. lol. It was a random grab from the library shelf - and I'm glad I decided to keep it. While it wasn't really well written and the story development wasn't super great - and overall you would just kinda go meh. I couldn't seem to put it down? I will definitely be looking into her other books. :)
Not a typical mystery as it is told from the perspective of the suspects as well as the police. When a body is found in the ice house of a country manor, the residents (three unmarried women who have been under suspicion by the townsfolk ever since the husband of one of the women went missing) are put in the spotlight once again. A good little mystery.
Another Minette Walters. Also disturbing. But I think what I like about her novels is that she does not give too much information about the characters. Even once you've finished reading, you're not so sure who was the "good guy" (or if there was one). It's kind of refreshing, amongst more formulaic mysteries. Still disturbing, though.
Minette Walters biggest fault as far as i am concerned is that she doesn't have reoccurring characters, so when you really enjoy a protagonist, that is likely to be the last time you see them. The plot in this is intricately built, with and odd and quirky set of characters, both good guys and bad ones. Love her!
Needed a book fast and grabbed (hate to admit this) the cheapest one on the shelf. Surprise, surprise I really liked this book! I thought it was going to be a typical English countryside mystery, but this is definitely not typical. The characters are modern and the "mystery" is very well plotted.
Went backward with this one -- seeing PBS series ages ago, and just reading the book recently.
Well worth the back-tracking.
The PBS version was excellent; the book has added layers. (Don't all books? :-)
Digging beneath to the obvious to find the layers of truth makes this especially enjoyable.
Well worth the back-tracking.
The PBS version was excellent; the book has added layers. (Don't all books? :-)
Digging beneath to the obvious to find the layers of truth makes this especially enjoyable.
Listened to the Simon Prebble Narration of this book while gardening. Good story, decent plot with some surprising and fun twists. Characters are believable with enough of them likable that I found myself caring about them enough to continue reading. Sort of wish Walters was into writing series.
I really didn't think I would enjoy this as much as I did. It explored alot of avenues I liked it as a portrait of the development of rumour and how this can affect peoples lives and how they develop around it and turn it to their own advantage. It was interesting for this more than anything else.
This one was a re-read, and I enjoyed it immensely. Walters' prickly cast of characters shines in this twisty tale, and she keeps revealing secrets right up to the end. At the same time, its a powerful meditation on the assumptions we make about others, and the things we do to protect ourselves.
Another in a long list of excellent police procedurals from the British author, Minette Walters. A badly decomposed body is found on the estate of three reclusive ladies, where one woman's husband had gone missing ten years earlier. Lots of red herrings and misdirects keep the reader guessing, while the police seem to chase their tails trying to fit the evidence into their preconceived ideas of what has occurred. But not everyone on the force is convinced that the women are guilty, and one gentl...more
Ihan kohtuullinen dekkari, jossa langat levisivät hiukan liian moneen suuntaan ja ainakin tämän lukijan oli hankala välillä pysyä kärryillä. Ei kuitenkaan huono kirja, voisin lukea kyseiseltä kirjailijalta muitakin kirjoja.
I am a big fan of the murder mystery, especially one that throws you numerous curve balls that you are blindisided by. The author does a good job making it believable that these characters have a long history together.
I just could not get into this book. The characters were not likable or engaging so I found it difficult to root for any of them. The plot is mainly developed through dialogue which I found kind of tiresome at times.
This maybe one of her most well written and memorable stories. But, while I can't remember specifics of Walters' other novels, I know that there were some that I found more pleasurable to read than The Ice House.
Aantal maal op het punt gestaan om het boek weg te leggen. Toch uitgelezen omdat de nieuwsgierigheid naar de dader en het slachtoffer te groot was. Uiteindelijk bleek ook dit tegen te vallen. Geen aanrader.
Starts out slow but picks up. Actually a 3.5 as it was a page-turner and kept me guessing, but slightly formulaic. Interesting characters and how and why they might hide things for many years.
"The triumph of the human condition was to face one small defeat after another and to survive them relatively intact."
This is a great mystery. She writes about women really well. A lot of twists!
This is a great mystery. She writes about women really well. A lot of twists!
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Minette Walters (born 26 September 1949) is a British mystery writer. After studying at Trevelyan College, University of Durham, she began writing in 1987 with The Ice House, which was published in 1992. She followed this with The Sculptress (1993), which received the 1994 Edgar Award for Best Novel. She has been published in 35 countries and won many awards.
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