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The Ice Queen
(Bodenstein & Kirchhoff #3)
by
The body of ninety-two-year-old Jossi Goldberg, Holocaust survivor and American citizen, is found shot to death execution style in his house near Frankfurt. A five-digit number is scrawled in blood at the murder scene. The autopsy reveals an old and unsuccessfully covered tattoo on the corpse s arm a blood type marker once used by Hitler s SS. Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver Bode
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Audio CD, Library Edition
Published
January 13th 2015
by Blackstone Publishing
(first published 2009)
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Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of The Ice Queen
4.0 out of 5 stars -- This is an excellent German police procedural, and the third book by Neuhaus that I have read. It is also #3 in the series. Unfortunately, because of the order in which the translations have been released in the USA, and also because the release of the series is incomplete, I actually started with Bad Wolf (#6), then read Snow White Must Die (#4), and just now getting this one. REVERSE ORDER. This is quite confusing going backward in time with regard to the growth of the Ki
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This mystery/police procedural starts off with a bang and a very interesting plot; a handful of elderly German aristocrats are being executed with a mysterious number left at each crime scene. Our two heroes, German police detective Pia Kirchoff and her boss, Oliver von Bodenstein, begin investigating and this potentially engaging story – unfortunately – quickly bogs down.
First there are too many characters introduced too quickly with too many back stories. There are unnecessary twists, red her ...more
First there are too many characters introduced too quickly with too many back stories. There are unnecessary twists, red her ...more
Sep 10, 2019
Pat (not getting friend updates currently)
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Wow, this was my third or fourth book by this German author. I love this series. Its not as fast paced as some of the stuff I read but if you like a slow burn mystery and a story driven by a complex plot and characters you can really get to know these books could be for you. This story happens in the present but has its roots in Nazi Germany. It was really, really good.
Nov 27, 2020
Deb Jones
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
police-procedural,
contemporary,
translation,
suspense,
crime,
series,
soft-crime-drama
The Ice Queen is the author's third in her Bodenstein and Kirchoff series, but the first of that series that has been translated from its original German into English. What a stellar introduction to this series for the reader.
Set in contemporary Germany, Bodenstein and Kirchoff are detectives in the Kripo, the criminal division of the police. An elderly man is killed assassination-style in the foyer of his home with a cryptic five-digit numeral left written in his blood on the mirror there. The ...more
Set in contemporary Germany, Bodenstein and Kirchoff are detectives in the Kripo, the criminal division of the police. An elderly man is killed assassination-style in the foyer of his home with a cryptic five-digit numeral left written in his blood on the mirror there. The ...more
Now I know what you are going to say... "But Martina, why in the world are you torturing yourself like this?". And after the previous experience with a Neuhaus book, you would be totally entitled to ask that. But the answer is simple: I'm an uncontrollable optimist. I hoped that Neuhaus' debut was a fluke, and that she had developed as an author in the interim, so my generosity decided to give her another shot. Yes, I am optimistic like that.
So, you all may ask, "Has your optimism been rewarded ...more
So, you all may ask, "Has your optimism been rewarded ...more
The Ice Queen by Nele Neuhaus is a prequel to the series following the exploits of the investigative team of Pia Kircshoff and Oliver von Bodenstein of the German Criminal Police. Though translated into English from its original German, Neuhaus delivers big on pace and prose, never skipping a beat as she builds tension and compounds the mystery around the murders of group of old friends.
Jossi Goldberg is a 92 year old Holocaust survivor and American citizen who returned to his native Germany to ...more
Jossi Goldberg is a 92 year old Holocaust survivor and American citizen who returned to his native Germany to ...more
The latest novel by the best-selling author of SNOW WHITE MUST DIE, German writer Nele Neuhaus, starts off with a bang and an exciting premise. Regrettably, it gets bogged down along the way with too many characters and plot-lines and the tension abates dramatically in place of soap opera-like events.
At the opening of THE ICE QUEEN we are met with an elderly man, recently having moved back to his home country of Germany after decades in the United States, who is soon brutally murdered in his own ...more
At the opening of THE ICE QUEEN we are met with an elderly man, recently having moved back to his home country of Germany after decades in the United States, who is soon brutally murdered in his own ...more
The Ice Queen is the third mystery novel by Nele Neuhaus featuring detectives Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver Bodenstein. As the book opens, an old Jewish man and holocaust survivor, has been found murdered execution style with the number “11645” written in the victim’s blood. During his autopsy they discover that his body has a tattoo marking him as a member of the Nazis SS. Shortly after the first murder, two more elderly people are killed in a similar way. As Pia Kirchoff and Oliver von Bodenstein o
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A pretty good story which is unfortunately rendered almost unreadable by an inept translation into American (I think!) English.
Almost always a bad idea to attempt to translate slang, but with a skilled translator and a solid plot rationale (i.e. place/time) for doing so, it can work - unfortunately neither exist here.
For example, in one scene we have an youngish middle aged, very upper class German guy, who's lived in Germany all his life, referring to going to jail as being in "the joint". No ...more
Almost always a bad idea to attempt to translate slang, but with a skilled translator and a solid plot rationale (i.e. place/time) for doing so, it can work - unfortunately neither exist here.
For example, in one scene we have an youngish middle aged, very upper class German guy, who's lived in Germany all his life, referring to going to jail as being in "the joint". No ...more
I’d like to find the first two in this series. It would probably help me understand a little better the character development. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters that weren’t the police. Everyone was a suspect or even just classified in my books as spineless and cowardly or massively subservient. The detectives had a great relationship and were the shining part of this tale.
This is the third translated novel from this writer which I have read. It is complex and intricately plotted. It begins with the murder of an elderly jewish man known as David Goldberg. Just as the case is shut after political interference, Pia and Oliver learn from an autopsy that the man was a Nazi and member of the SS.
So begins an investigation that leads to the second world war and Germany’s dark past of Nazism. Two other elderly victims, with nazi history, are killed in a similar way. The ...more
So begins an investigation that leads to the second world war and Germany’s dark past of Nazism. Two other elderly victims, with nazi history, are killed in a similar way. The ...more
I liked the way that Nele Neuhaus had all the people do the obvious. Brodenstein make love to a woman not his wife when unknowing he was given the drug Ecstasy. Pia having her friend fall in love with her ex-husband. These were really side stories to the main case. It was a who-done-it from the word go.
Too many characters, too many characters pretending to be someone they weren't, too many people out for revenge, too complicated. And I still was gonna give this three stars, but I'm knocking one off for the unnecessary disembowling of a victim and the removal of their eyes. Not described in graphic, gory detail, but, never-the-less, unnecessary, in my opinion.
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I couldn't stay focused on the story. not sure if it was because the narrator voice lulled me or if it was the story. maybe I will try trading instead of listening to it next time...
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Maybe 3.5. This was an audiobook. The narrator was good. There were too many characters and too many side tracks, and too many convenient coincidences, but overall a good mystery.
#3 in the series, having read #4 previously, Bodenstein and Kirchoff find themselves trying to solve 3 linked murders of elderly victims where the circumstances seem to involve a mystery dating back to 1945
The Plot:
Daniel Goldberg, a Retired Jewish philanthropist in his eighties, is murdered in his home, execution style. The police make a shocking discovery during his autopsy. Days later, two more elderly Germans are killed, leading detectives Pia Kirchoff and Oliver von Bodenstein on a thrilling chase that takes them to secrets buried in the mists of the Second World War.
My Review:
This novel, while released after Snow White Must Die and Big Bad Wolf, chronologically occurs before both of them - f ...more
Daniel Goldberg, a Retired Jewish philanthropist in his eighties, is murdered in his home, execution style. The police make a shocking discovery during his autopsy. Days later, two more elderly Germans are killed, leading detectives Pia Kirchoff and Oliver von Bodenstein on a thrilling chase that takes them to secrets buried in the mists of the Second World War.
My Review:
This novel, while released after Snow White Must Die and Big Bad Wolf, chronologically occurs before both of them - f ...more
Jan 07, 2015
Lorraine Baker
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime-thrillers
The body of 92-year-old Jossi Goldberg, Holocaust survivor and American citizen, is found shot to death execution style in his house near Frankfurt. A five-digit number is scrawled in blood at the murder scene. The autopsy reveals an old and unsuccessfully covered tattoo on the corpse's arm—a blood type marker once used by Hitler's SS. Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver Bodenstein are faced with a riddle. Was the old man not Jewish after all? Who was he, really? Two more, similar murders happen—one of a w
...more
I listed this as a thriller but that sort of hedges the category.
This is the third book I've read in this series. While I like them in general they have some facets I'm not fond of. For one thing the book is so full of personal angst and emotion.
Do any of you remember the first seasons of the TV show Law and Order? When it started it was a police procedural. A crime is committed and we followed the events from investigation to arrest to trial. (Later the show became nothing more than a politic ...more
This is the third book I've read in this series. While I like them in general they have some facets I'm not fond of. For one thing the book is so full of personal angst and emotion.
Do any of you remember the first seasons of the TV show Law and Order? When it started it was a police procedural. A crime is committed and we followed the events from investigation to arrest to trial. (Later the show became nothing more than a politic ...more
2.5* To start with I was really confused by the Ice Queen, I found there were too many characters and plot lines to keep track of and I kept getting lost. Once I got a bit further into the story I was more invested, but I still found some of the language really awkward (which could be an issue with translation). I liked the premise of the story, and the German setting was different from anything else I've read, but the ending got way too dramatic! It was like a soap opera, and so much was happen
...more
May 11, 2019
Trevor
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery-and-crime,
library
A good idea for a story, but spoilt by a lack of editing.
The book was interesting as it is based on WWII perpetrators and victims and how they affect today’s world focusing on questions about guilt and justice. There were unexpected twists and turns. But I almost gave it a 3.75 because the plot is very complex and there are too many characters and relationships. It took me a while to put it all together.
An idiotic book with rubbish and meaningless plot . Full of foolish characters , especially stupid detectives . Just disgusting .
Ice Queen is the third of Ms Neuhaus's German police procedurals that I have read although it is the first of those translated chronologically. Bodenstein and Kirchhoff, the protagonists, are called to the murder of an elderly, philanthropic German American Jew, David Goldberg, who has been shot in his home. Due to the victim's connections and the potential political ramifications the case is quickly transferred to the National Police, but not before the autopsy uncovers the fact that David Gold
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The Ice Queen
by Nele Neuhaus
Don't open this novel unless you have time to finish reading it! The read is so phenomenal that you won't be able to put it down.
Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver Bodenstein are faced with many contradictions as they try to solve the murder of an American and Holocaust survivor who has a 5 digit number tattoed on his arm, the type of tattoo the SS used to show blood type. Was he a Nazi or a surviving Jew?
The body of 92-year-old Jossi Goldberg is found shot to death execution ...more
by Nele Neuhaus
Don't open this novel unless you have time to finish reading it! The read is so phenomenal that you won't be able to put it down.
Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver Bodenstein are faced with many contradictions as they try to solve the murder of an American and Holocaust survivor who has a 5 digit number tattoed on his arm, the type of tattoo the SS used to show blood type. Was he a Nazi or a surviving Jew?
The body of 92-year-old Jossi Goldberg is found shot to death execution ...more
First off, a minor complaint. Neuhaus’ series is being translated from German, but out of order. So the first I read was Snow White Must Die #4, then Bad Wolf #6, and now The Ice Queen #3. Each is a self-contained mystery, but Pia and Oliver’s personal lives come into play a fair amount and it’s a little odd going back in time to see where their relationships were, knowing how they change over time. It doesn’t bother me too much, but I feel like it would be a stronger series read in order.
The st ...more
The st ...more
When an elderly man is found dead in his home, execution style, the detectives need to find out who killed him. The way to start that is to find out why someone wanted him dead. By all accounts it appears he is a Jewish widower who returned to Germany to live out his final years in peace. But when the medical examiner finds traces of a hidden tattoo that was given to members of The Third Reich, it appears this victim had secrets of his own. This story takes the reader back to the mid 1940's in G
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A very intricate, intelligent mystery filled with old secrets, hatred, and revenge. I'd never read Neuhaus before (I was rec'd Snow White Must Die, but that had a line of holds at the library so I went for this one instead). I really enjoyed the make-up of the K11 team and that Kirchhoff and Bodenstein are not stock loner detectives. As an American, I was really interested in the representations of old Germany with the shadows of the Third Reich in the background and how that played into class p
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Too many characters, the need to believe that so many people would never have caught on to things for so many years, and a "reveal" that was broadcast a bit too far in advance...
Portions of the translation just didn't ring true, including what I guess I would call a cultural translation of a key element left at the murder scenes. Having lived in Germany and traveled extensively throughout Europe, I know there is a way that ...something... is typically formatted there which is not done the same ...more
Portions of the translation just didn't ring true, including what I guess I would call a cultural translation of a key element left at the murder scenes. Having lived in Germany and traveled extensively throughout Europe, I know there is a way that ...something... is typically formatted there which is not done the same ...more
Based upon the initial few pages, I had high hopes for this book. In general, if I don't feel like a book has drawn me in by page 50, I quit reading and this was one of the times that I did not follow my rule since the book quickly led to a confusing plot with shallow descriptions of far too many characters to fully invest in any of them. I forced myself to finish this and can say that my rule should have held. The ending leaves a lot of confusion since the build up seems to overwhelm you with d
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| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| how awesome is this book???!!!! | 2 | 6 | Apr 01, 2016 04:57PM | |
| reading two books at once? | 2 | 7 | Feb 05, 2016 04:57PM |
Readers also enjoyed
... geboren in Münster / Westfalen und aufgewachsen in Paderborn, lebt seit ihrer Kindheit im Taunus und schreibt bereits ebenso lange. Sie arbeitete in einer Werbeagentur, studierte einige Semester Jura, Geschichte und Germanistik, bis sie nach ihrer Heirat ihren Mann im familieneigenen Betrieb unterstützte.
Ihre im Vordertaunus angesiedelte Krimiserie mit den Ermittlern Oliver von Bodenstein und ...more
Ihre im Vordertaunus angesiedelte Krimiserie mit den Ermittlern Oliver von Bodenstein und ...more
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