Vodka Doesn't Freeze (A Detective Jill Jackson Mystery #1)

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Vodka Doesn't Freeze (A Detective Jill Jackson Mystery #1)

3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 · rating details · 133 ratings · 29 reviews

When a middle-aged man is brutally murdered in the hills overlooking a children's pool, it is immediately clear to Sergeant Jill Jackson that someone has stopped a dangerous pedophile in his tracks. Jill is at first ambivalent about pursuing the killer, but when more men dieall of them known to police as child sex offendersshe is forced to admit that a serial killer is

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Paperback, 322 pages

Published November 1st 2009 by Random House Australia

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Jun 14, 2013 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: australia, c2c-2013-challlenge

I had been looking for a book set specifically in Australia, but no particular genre. The title grabbed my attention and the description hooked me in. Mind you, I had put my local public library to go to a bit of trouble getting my copy. They kindly had a copy set to me from another library in a completely different State...all the way from Las Vegas Nevada! That's 420 miles away and at no cost to me at all. (We are lucky to have a splendid library system here!)

Was the story worth going to such...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Rob Kitchin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Vodka Doesn’t Freeze isn’t the easiest of reads – child sex abuse and paedophilia rings are not the stuff of light reading. However, Giarrantano draws on her accumulated experience as a psychologist dealing with sex offenders and survivors to handle the material with care. The police politics and rivalries are realistic, but what lifts the book beyond the normal is the characterisation, especially the victims and perpetrators, which is excellent, along with some astute observations about familie...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: australian, crime

Nobody could possibly call reading VODKA DOESN'T FREEZE a pleasure - it's an absolutely heartbreaking and very discomforting book. The author is a trauma psychologist who works with victims, and victims are very much the focus of VODKA DOESN'T FREEZE.

A young girl, victim of sexual abuse kills herself. Her psychologist Mercy treats patients who have suffered trauma, but Mercy seems to be very close to breaking in her own right. A middle-aged man is beaten to death in his hiding spot in the scrub,...more Nobody could possibly call reading VODKA DOESN'T FREEZE a pleasure - it's an absolutely heartbreaking and very discomforting book. The author is a trauma psychologist who works with victims, and victims are very much the focus of VODKA DOESN'T FREEZE.

A young girl, victim of sexual abuse kills herself. Her psychologist Mercy treats patients who have suffered trauma, but Mercy seems to be very close to breaking in her own right. A middle-aged man is beaten to death in his hiding spot in the scrub, overlooking a children's pool. This is not a victim for whom anybody feels much compassion - a paedophile who, it turns out, has connections to a major paedophile ring. The main investigator on the case, Sargeant Jill Jackson daily fights her own demons, the legacy of being kidnapped and repeatedly raped by paeodophiles as a young girl, she manages her ongoing trauma via a series of her own obsessions - exercise, control of her environment, 100% concentration. Soon Jill, and her partner Scotty, have more murders to solve - but the victims are all paeodophiles and really - does anybody care? As the investigation continues, a ring of paedophiles, many of them successful businessmen, leaders and the privileged in society, is revealed and Jill's own past is brought more and more into the present.

There is absolutely no doubt that the central theme of this book is the damage that is done by sexual abuse. The author has provided a dense, complex concentration on human damage and the ways that various victims try to cope with their own lives - VODKA DOESN'T FREEZE is a harrowing book because of it. All of the central characters of this book have been damaged, hurt, are struggling to cope with their pasts, the methods that they choose to cope starkly drawn and discomfortingly believable. There are some parts of this book that many readers will find distressing, the grooming of young children, the kidnap of a young boy....

This harrowing and detailed concentration on the victim is what could make VODKA DOESN'T FREEZE potentially difficult for the average reader. The damage and suffering of the victims is undoubted, the experience of the psychologist and other support personnel who work to help these people must be appalling, but the concentration on the abuse itself made the plot of the murder disappear and VODKA DOESN'T FREEZE became less of a crime fiction book and more an analysis of the affects of crime on a victim. Sometimes the shape shifting of expectation in a category - such as crime fiction - is a good thing, it can refresh, provide the reader with a different viewpoint, a different consideration, challenge the readers expectations and drag you out of your comfort zone to consider the unconsidered. VODKA DOESN'T FREEZE is perhaps too heavy handed, too harrowing, too hard, too peopled with damage and suffering, too distressing for many readers, which would be a pity as the message is obviously important. There is a second book in the works, and I'll be reading that one as well when it comes out, as there is something being said by this author.(less)

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Aug 10, 2010 Bree T rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

The book opens with the murder of a man on a high point overlooking a pool where plenty of children play. The digital camera nearby and the fact that his fly is open give a pretty good clue that he’s not there to catch some rays. He’s the first of a series of similar murders. All are unhealthily interested in small children. All are violently bludgeoned or stabbed to death. And all are linked to a psychologist in outer western Sydney who was treating victims of all of them. Something isn’t quite...more The book opens with the murder of a man on a high point overlooking a pool where plenty of children play. The digital camera nearby and the fact that his fly is open give a pretty good clue that he’s not there to catch some rays. He’s the first of a series of similar murders. All are unhealthily interested in small children. All are violently bludgeoned or stabbed to death. And all are linked to a psychologist in outer western Sydney who was treating victims of all of them. Something isn’t quite right with the psychologist either – could she be the killer? Turned crusader after years of hearing trauma after trauma and having perps walk on lack of evidence? Is it a victim of an attack? A relative of a victim? There are questions and Jackson needs to find answers.

Detective Jill Jackson is a flawed protagonist who at times, seems to barely keep it together. The victim herself of a chilling and traumatic kidnapping as a child, she fights the demons that haunt her everyday by keeping to extremely strict routines (OCD), working out until she drops and barely eating enough to exist. This case touches her personally, more than it would most. From a raped transvestite that she befriends, she gets information on a group of pedophiles in Sydney who meet up to swap videos, photos and occasionally, participate in sessions with victims.

It’s a subject that raises a lot of hackles and thankfully, Giarratano keeps the descriptions of meetings and encounters with children to a bare minimum, working on the less is more type theory. She saves her best writing for the delving into Jackson’s psyche and the construction of her character. She is beautifully multi-layered and you get glimpses of her many facets: the businesslike detective. The sibling that’s full of regret. The drive to protect herself, physically, from any threat – real or perceived. The interest she has for her partner, that she cannot bring herself to ever act upon. She’s a wonderful character and I’d read the remaining books in this series for that alone, even if the writing wasn’t as tight and well done as it is.

There is one thing that I have come to view with a bit of frustration though, and that is protagonists doing stupid things. They usually involve not waiting for back up and going into situations unarmed, without back up and without much of an idea. It happens quite often in the Kathy Reichs novels, made worse by the fact that Temperance isn’t even a cop. Even though Jackson is, I did find it a tad ludicrous that she would go into that mansion alone where there were a whole heap of ‘persons of interest’, in the dark, unarmed, when her parter and a whole team was probably no more than 20-30 minutes away. It happens so often these days on TV also. I’m a veteran of Crossing Jordan, CSI, CSI:NY, Cold Case and countless others where people think nothing or running headlong into danger without a second thought and mostly in real life, it’d get you a bullet in your head for your trouble.

But that moment aside, I enjoyed this book immensely, despite the absolutely stomach-churning themes. It was amazingly well put together, pacy and interesting. I read it in one sitting before dinner, page-turning anxiously so that I wouldn’t have to put it down to eat. I’ll definitely be picking up the other books in this series. Giarratano, with her experience, sure knows how to put together nasty bad-guys and well thought out good guys.(less)

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Jan 04, 2013 Charlie Head rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a very intense read with a very heavy subject matter, would be my first observation. It deals with the rape and abuse of children, which is never a light matter, but it wasn't so horrifying that it completely alienated me.

The characters were beautifully crafted, very believable and solid, they seemed very very real. You had the most disgusting villains and a heroine you sincerely wanted to succeed.

I read this very quickly, for several reasons ranging from addictive horror, a well-pace...more

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Jun 09, 2010 Trak rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, australian, crime, fiction

It was not a bad book but what irked was the main character being assaulted not once but twice in 48 hours and it seemed to add nothing to the story line except to say she is female and vulnerable or it was an excuse to get her home and resting with the family or it was an excuse to bring out the characters tortured past. Made me think this character, apart from carrying a lot of baggage is almost incapable of functioning and it really did weaken her for me. I was not looking for her to being a...more

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Dec 26, 2010 Ann Stanland rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sleuth-of-baker-street-read

I've been in the mood lately to go back to reading crime and thriller novels for fun. I visited Toronto's book store The Sleuth of Baker Street and picked up a couple of novels there since they specialize in this genre, and now I'm hooked.

I enjoyed Australian psychologist Leah Giarratano's Vodka Doesn't Freeze. It's part of the detective Jillian Jackson series, and I want to read more! I'm looking forward to reading her other novels Black Ice, Voodoo Doll, and Watch the World Burn.

In Vodka Doesn...more

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Jun 12, 2013 Brenda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: aussie-authors, crime, mystery, own-read

When Sergeant Jill Jackson was called out on her day off by Scotty, her partner, she didn’t expect it to be the beginning of a violent few weeks. But the murder of a man in his 40s in the sand dunes, overlooking young children swimming and playing in the sand set alarm bells off in her mind. It also caused her own terrible nightmares to resurface. For a camera with horrifying images on it, lying beside a man with his fly open, gave them all the realization that he wasn’t just sunbaking.

After mor...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: australia, crime-detective

Three and a half stars.

I think this is the first time I've read an Australian crime story. Australia means sunshine and surfers; detective novels mean fog, rain and icy roads (yes, I'm all about clichés today :D). So, in my head, those worlds shouldn't meet. But here, they did!

And I must say it wasn't a bad book.

Two things annoyed me though:
- the main character keeps being assaulted throughout the book. I mean, okay, she was a victim in her childhood (not spoiling you, you learn that at page 10...more

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May 11, 2012 Tyson Adams rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm really unsure as to whether to rate this a 4 or a 5. Lets call it 4.5

It was only just over a day ago when I gave up on a book. I found I was putting off reading, a clear sign that the book sucked. So I moved on, moved on and picked up Leah Giarratano's first novel. This book was just what I needed.

I met Leah at the Perth Writers' Festival. Aside from being one of the nicest people you will meet, she is also a very good crime writer. She draws on her background in psychology to delve into the...more

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Jul 02, 2008 Sunnie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Leah Giarratano is a trauma psychologist based in Sydney. Among her clients have been victims of sexual abuse and men serving sentences for child abuse. VODKA DOESN’T FREEZE is her first novel. I had the good fortune to hear Giarratano speak last year. She talked about the book being cathartic for her. She regarded it as an exercise to purge herself of bottled up emotions. She never expected a publisher to accept it.

VODKA DOESN’T FREEZE isn’t an easy book. It is a very dark subject Giarratano wr...more

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Sep 23, 2009 Glen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I bought this book as i watched beyond the dark lands and a heard the chick on there wrote novels. I had mixed feelings about this read. It had me pretty sucked in to the story for most of the way but toward the end i kind of lost me. It felt far fetched and predictable. Which was a shame as i did really enjoy it up till then. I still recomend it as a read and i will proberly check out the other 2 book Leah done, but like i said above the events leading to the end of the book just lost me to be...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Rachel Peterson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked this thriller. The police character Jill Jackson is a likeable heroine. It is set in Sydney and is about a pedophile ring where some of the members have been murdered. Quite a difficult topic made all the more chilling by the fact I read this after I saw the author at my local library speaking of her experiences as a clinical psychologist within Long Bay Gaol. I will progress to the next Jill Jackson book.

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Dec 18, 2011 Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011, thrillers, for-sale

Excellent fast paced thriller about a female police officer with a dark past investigating the murder of a paedophile. Not recommended for the parents of young children as the descriptions of the paedophile mindset are horrifying and would stop you ever letting them go outside, but otherwise highly recommended.

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Nov 09, 2012 Terri rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A crime story that deals with paedophilia, quite disturbing. The author is a trauma psychologist.and some details I would have preferred not to know. A good book if messy brutal crime appeals

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Aug 21, 2011 K.L. Joy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Couldn't put this one down, scarily good! Well written, and portrayed the disturbing likeness of someone who has been damaged... almost beyond repair.

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Feb 22, 2010 Claire Ireland rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is brilliant as are her other books. They are insightful, heartstopping and well written. A must for anyone who loves a good murder thriller.

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Nov 04, 2011 Tien rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: australia, australian-author, crime, thriller, mystery

I was taken by surprised as to how much I enjoyed this book. I didn't there would be many crime books to surprise me but I think being set in an area you are familiar with (Sydney & surrounding suburbs) makes a difference as well. What I love most though was Jillian Jackson - what a tough (& smart) cookie!

The subject matter (phaedophilia) is very touchy for me and yet, the book surprised a few tears out of me. It was slightly embarrasing since I was reading on the train ride to work!

Howe...more

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Mar 14, 2009 Michele Harrod rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Excellent first novel, written by an expert in forensic crime. Looking forward to the next one.

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Aug 31, 2012 Anne Marshall rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, crime

Didn’t finish. Too much abuse for all characters and it seemed like all characters self-harmed

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Sep 22, 2012 Robyne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a real page turner!! I couldn't put it down from start to finish.

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Feb 10, 2009 Jenfa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

disturbing and a little predictable but certainly worth the read

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Oct 06, 2012 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-book, finished-reading

This was a good book....lots of suspenseful action. I will read more from her..she was a new author for me.

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Sep 26, 2012 Roslyn Miller rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great to read an Aussie detective crime thriller....enjoyed

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Aug 01, 2011 Sam added it · review of another edition

This is a great book! Definitely one of my favourites!!

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Jan 29, 2013 Nilchance rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The middle of this book had me hooked, but the end was monumentally whiffed.

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Nov 14, 2010 Madi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-fiction, owned, school

The violence in this book astounded me at the start but as it progressed I realized that the author was using this violence to make a very interesting point about violence and gender stereotypes in crime fiction. The book was very interesting to read and the plot drew me in because it focused on different areas of crime then I was used to. This book was a lucky find at a secondhand store and I am glad I read it because it gave me a new perspective on the genre of crime writing.

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Aug 05, 2011 Trisha rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

poor jill... she copped a lot, hopefully in voodoo dolls, she won't get as beaten up as much...

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Jun 16, 2013 Kelly is currently reading it · review of another edition

Jun 14, 2013 Kate marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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About Leah Giarratano

Dr Leah Giarratano has had a long career as a clinical psychologist. Her professional background offers a unique selling point in this genre and gives an authenticity to her writing. Leah is an expert in psychological trauma, sex offences and psychopathology and has had many years assessing psychopaths and treating their victims.

She has worked in psychiatric hospitals, with the defence force, and...more

More about Leah Giarratano...

Books by Leah Giarratano

Voodoo Doll (A Detective Jill Jackson Mystery #2)

Black Ice (A Detective Jill Jackson Mystery #3)

Watch the World Burn (A Detective Jill Jackson Mystery #4)

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