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The Ice House
12mo. ex library copy. Ffep missing.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
About the author
Minette Walters
70 books1,359 followersMinette 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.
The Sculptress has been adapted for television in a BBC series starring Pauline Quirke. Her novels The Ice House, The Echo, The Dark Room, and The Scold's Bridle have also been adapted by the BBC.
The Sculptress has been adapted for television in a BBC series starring Pauline Quirke. Her novels The Ice House, The Echo, The Dark Room, and The Scold's Bridle have also been adapted by the BBC.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 389 reviews
September 29, 2021
It was an entertaining enough who dunnit and I'd like to read more by Minette Walters in the future.
March 13, 2017
I've read several of Walters's later novels and for the most part enjoyed them a great deal. Her writing has a tremendous fluency, while she has the ability to create very real characters; the net result is thrillers that have a fine pace and an admirable depth of reader involvement.
Had I not vaguely remembered that The Ice House was her debut novel, I'd have been startled. The writing's quite often pretty clumsy, the narrative seems a bit disjointed as if the book had been written piecemeal over an extended period and then not subjected to a stringent enough editing, the characters seem to act inconsistently (and sometimes in a rather adolescent fashion), there's an over-readiness to opt for melodrama with each new revelation, and there's a certain level of snobbery that's pretty unappealing. For all that, the novel does remain very readable -- I shot through it in just a few hours.
The plot in short: The three women who live at Streech Grange are ostracized by the local villagers. Not only are they obviously "lezzies" set on corrupting the neighborhood's daughters, ten years ago one of them, Phoebe, "obviously" killed her husband David, who has never been seen since. Now a rotted corpse has been discovered in the abandoned ice house on the Streech Grange estate, and the rumor spreads like wildfire that the body is David's. Inspector Walsh, who headed the original murder inquiry when David disappeared, and his sidekick, the rough diamond Detective Sergeant Andy McLoughlin, take charge of the case. Andy finds himself maddeningly both repelled and attracted by one of the three friends, Anne Cattrell, and the feeling's mutual . . .
Part of the circumstances of the novel make this a sort of distant cousin to Josephine Tey's The Franchise Affair (1948), Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour (1934) and even Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962). It's a less dominant element here but, as I've always been especially terrified by the mindless, sadistic persecutionary viciousness of the lynch mob and its analogues -- such as the witch-hunt -- in which victims are powerless in face of the mob, this part hit me quite hard.
Because of the overall amateurishness -- relative, because I'm sure plenty of authors would have been proud to have this as their first novel -- there's the sense throughout that this could well have been a screen story, written not for publication but to be the basis of a screenplay. And indeed it has served that function. A good few years ago I watched the 1996 TV movie/miniseries adaptation of The Ice House, with Daniel Craig and Kitty Aldridge, and from what I can remember that made for a much more satisfying, rounded rendition of the tale.
Had I not vaguely remembered that The Ice House was her debut novel, I'd have been startled. The writing's quite often pretty clumsy, the narrative seems a bit disjointed as if the book had been written piecemeal over an extended period and then not subjected to a stringent enough editing, the characters seem to act inconsistently (and sometimes in a rather adolescent fashion), there's an over-readiness to opt for melodrama with each new revelation, and there's a certain level of snobbery that's pretty unappealing. For all that, the novel does remain very readable -- I shot through it in just a few hours.
The plot in short: The three women who live at Streech Grange are ostracized by the local villagers. Not only are they obviously "lezzies" set on corrupting the neighborhood's daughters, ten years ago one of them, Phoebe, "obviously" killed her husband David, who has never been seen since. Now a rotted corpse has been discovered in the abandoned ice house on the Streech Grange estate, and the rumor spreads like wildfire that the body is David's. Inspector Walsh, who headed the original murder inquiry when David disappeared, and his sidekick, the rough diamond Detective Sergeant Andy McLoughlin, take charge of the case. Andy finds himself maddeningly both repelled and attracted by one of the three friends, Anne Cattrell, and the feeling's mutual . . .
Part of the circumstances of the novel make this a sort of distant cousin to Josephine Tey's The Franchise Affair (1948), Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour (1934) and even Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962). It's a less dominant element here but, as I've always been especially terrified by the mindless, sadistic persecutionary viciousness of the lynch mob and its analogues -- such as the witch-hunt -- in which victims are powerless in face of the mob, this part hit me quite hard.
Because of the overall amateurishness -- relative, because I'm sure plenty of authors would have been proud to have this as their first novel -- there's the sense throughout that this could well have been a screen story, written not for publication but to be the basis of a screenplay. And indeed it has served that function. A good few years ago I watched the 1996 TV movie/miniseries adaptation of The Ice House, with Daniel Craig and Kitty Aldridge, and from what I can remember that made for a much more satisfying, rounded rendition of the tale.
December 1, 2012
I read several Minette Walters books while on holiday and found them very well written.
I found them very powerful and slightly different to the normal style of Mystery Crime writers.
Very good reads.
I found them very powerful and slightly different to the normal style of Mystery Crime writers.
Very good reads.
July 8, 2017
Khi đọc qua tóm tắt của cuốn tiểu thuyết này, mình đã từng háo hức muốn mua sách về đọc lắm. Đến khi đọc được rồi thì mình nhận ra, nó không được như mình mong đợi. Mình hy vọng sẽ được đọc một cái gì đó bí ẩn, lạnh lẽo (như cái tên "Hầm trữ đông" của cuốn tiểu thuyết gợi ra ý), ma mị, nói chung là phải có một điểm nhấn gì đó khiến mình ghi nhớ và cảm thấy rùng rợn. Nhưng mà hỡi ôi...
Mở đầu khá hấp dẫn, để rồi câu chuyện trôi dần về những điểm nhạt nhòa. Mình có cảm giác là tác giả đã có những chi tiết đắt giá hoặc những ý tưởng tuyệt vời để triển khai câu chuyện, nhưng mà bà không biết làm cách nào để kết nối chúng lại với nhau. Nhiều đoạn không có sự liên kết gì hết (không biết có phải do phần dịch thuật có vấn đề hay không...), khiến mình nhiều khi không biết mình có đang đọc một vụ phá án không nữa... Tác giả sa đà vào miêu tả chuyện tình cảm cá nhân của các nhân vật - thứ mà mình cảm thấy hơi bị thừa thãi, đặc biệt là đối với một cuốn tiểu thuyết trinh thám có tiềm năng lớn như cuốn này. Rồi từ vụ đầu tiên, lại kéo tiếp tới vụ thứ hai, điều tra người mất tích tùm lum, mà mình cảm thấy nó cứ lủng củng sao á...
3 sao là mình dành cho một vài chương cuối, nó khiến mình bất ngờ theo một cách, phải nói sao ta, không giống như bất kỳ cuốn tiểu thuyết trinh thám điển hình nào. Những ai là fan trung thành của trinh thám điển hình (ý là mong chờ một cao trào hay sự bùng nổ gì đó ở đích đến của việc phá án) chắc sẽ thất vọng và thấy chưng hửng lắm. Nhưng mình thì vẫn thấy đoạn kết ổn và để lại một vài dư âm, bởi vì có những sự thật khủng khiếp hơn cả việc tìm ra danh tính của một cái xác đã bị thối rữa, mặc dù đoạn kết này khiến mình có cảm giác tiểu thuyết không hẳn là thuộc thể loại trinh thám; nó giống với một cuốn tâm lý xã hội hơn :D
Dù sao đây cũng là tiểu thuyết đầu tay của tác giả Minette Walters, nên chắc chắn sẽ có những điểm chưa được vừa ý. Nghe đâu IPM sắp xuất bản cuốn tiếp theo của bà là "Nữ điêu khắc" (The Sculptress), thấy rating và số lượng người đọc cao hơn hẳn cuốn "Hầm trữ đông". Để chờ đọc tiếp tác phẩm tiếp theo của Minette Walters xem sao.
P.S.: Đây cũng là lần thứ 4 mình đọc một cuốn tiểu thuyết trinh thám có đề cập đến vấn đề xâm hại tình dục trẻ em (đề tài này công nhận được khai thác nhiều ghê nhỉ?). Cuốn đầu tiên về đề tài này mà mình đọc là Công chúa băng, sau đó tới The Frozen Dead, rồi tới Tiếng Thét Câm Lặng. 3 cuốn này cuốn nào cũng hay hết trơn á :)))
Mở đầu khá hấp dẫn, để rồi câu chuyện trôi dần về những điểm nhạt nhòa. Mình có cảm giác là tác giả đã có những chi tiết đắt giá hoặc những ý tưởng tuyệt vời để triển khai câu chuyện, nhưng mà bà không biết làm cách nào để kết nối chúng lại với nhau. Nhiều đoạn không có sự liên kết gì hết (không biết có phải do phần dịch thuật có vấn đề hay không...), khiến mình nhiều khi không biết mình có đang đọc một vụ phá án không nữa... Tác giả sa đà vào miêu tả chuyện tình cảm cá nhân của các nhân vật - thứ mà mình cảm thấy hơi bị thừa thãi, đặc biệt là đối với một cuốn tiểu thuyết trinh thám có tiềm năng lớn như cuốn này. Rồi từ vụ đầu tiên, lại kéo tiếp tới vụ thứ hai, điều tra người mất tích tùm lum, mà mình cảm thấy nó cứ lủng củng sao á...
3 sao là mình dành cho một vài chương cuối, nó khiến mình bất ngờ theo một cách, phải nói sao ta, không giống như bất kỳ cuốn tiểu thuyết trinh thám điển hình nào. Những ai là fan trung thành của trinh thám điển hình (ý là mong chờ một cao trào hay sự bùng nổ gì đó ở đích đến của việc phá án) chắc sẽ thất vọng và thấy chưng hửng lắm. Nhưng mình thì vẫn thấy đoạn kết ổn và để lại một vài dư âm, bởi vì có những sự thật khủng khiếp hơn cả việc tìm ra danh tính của một cái xác đã bị thối rữa, mặc dù đoạn kết này khiến mình có cảm giác tiểu thuyết không hẳn là thuộc thể loại trinh thám; nó giống với một cuốn tâm lý xã hội hơn :D
Dù sao đây cũng là tiểu thuyết đầu tay của tác giả Minette Walters, nên chắc chắn sẽ có những điểm chưa được vừa ý. Nghe đâu IPM sắp xuất bản cuốn tiếp theo của bà là "Nữ điêu khắc" (The Sculptress), thấy rating và số lượng người đọc cao hơn hẳn cuốn "Hầm trữ đông". Để chờ đọc tiếp tác phẩm tiếp theo của Minette Walters xem sao.
P.S.: Đây cũng là lần thứ 4 mình đọc một cuốn tiểu thuyết trinh thám có đề cập đến vấn đề xâm hại tình dục trẻ em (đề tài này công nhận được khai thác nhiều ghê nhỉ?). Cuốn đầu tiên về đề tài này mà mình đọc là Công chúa băng, sau đó tới The Frozen Dead, rồi tới Tiếng Thét Câm Lặng. 3 cuốn này cuốn nào cũng hay hết trơn á :)))
July 14, 2016
Oh my god I'm so glad it's over. It's been a while since I've read a book so damn frustrating.
This book only got two stars because it had an interesting setting, fascinating secondary characters and suspects and the resolution of the case managed to surprise me in the end.
BUT I've never read a crime novel where I was rooting for the murderer to show up and off the two main investigators so badly. They were such misogynistic, homophobic, judgemental assholes, I don't even know what to say. I actually had to look up if the book was really written by a woman more than once, just to be sure... Which resulted in me asking myself several times if I, as the reader, was even supposed to root for them. Maybe I was supposed to root for the suspects, three really cool ladies? I asked myself that till around 30 pages before the end when one of the assholes got a personality transplant and it turned out that yes, I was really supposed to root for one of them at least. My eyes almost rolled out of the sockets when that dude with the worst neckbeard attitude towards women was suddenly their biggest defender and a beacon of human kindness in the eyes of the others.
Oh, and in case anyone is looking for any positive portrayal of lesbians because of summaries they found: Don't get your hopes up.
I'm pretty disappointed, cause I've read and liked another book of the same author before and the summary on the back of the book sounded really good.
Guess this was the author's first book, so I will probably read some of her later books - unless the next one is similar to this.
This book only got two stars because it had an interesting setting, fascinating secondary characters and suspects and the resolution of the case managed to surprise me in the end.
BUT I've never read a crime novel where I was rooting for the murderer to show up and off the two main investigators so badly. They were such misogynistic, homophobic, judgemental assholes, I don't even know what to say. I actually had to look up if the book was really written by a woman more than once, just to be sure... Which resulted in me asking myself several times if I, as the reader, was even supposed to root for them. Maybe I was supposed to root for the suspects, three really cool ladies? I asked myself that till around 30 pages before the end when one of the assholes got a personality transplant and it turned out that yes, I was really supposed to root for one of them at least. My eyes almost rolled out of the sockets when that dude with the worst neckbeard attitude towards women was suddenly their biggest defender and a beacon of human kindness in the eyes of the others.
Oh, and in case anyone is looking for any positive portrayal of lesbians because of summaries they found: Don't get your hopes up.
I'm pretty disappointed, cause I've read and liked another book of the same author before and the summary on the back of the book sounded really good.
Guess this was the author's first book, so I will probably read some of her later books - unless the next one is similar to this.
May 28, 2017
It took me forever to finish this book because I really wasn't feeling it.
It was a 'who dunnit' novel but I ended up not caring who dunnit. I felt the writing was all over the place, there were too many generic characters that I got muddled up who was who, I really lost track a few times due to it being so generic and the story had about as much interest as beige paint.
It was below average, it wasn't terrible hence the 2 stars but it didn't stand out what-so-ever. It was just so bland. When all the puzzle pieces were put together all I could muster up was 'huh, well thank God that's over'. Can't say it makes me want to read another Minette Walters book again.
x
It was a 'who dunnit' novel but I ended up not caring who dunnit. I felt the writing was all over the place, there were too many generic characters that I got muddled up who was who, I really lost track a few times due to it being so generic and the story had about as much interest as beige paint.
It was below average, it wasn't terrible hence the 2 stars but it didn't stand out what-so-ever. It was just so bland. When all the puzzle pieces were put together all I could muster up was 'huh, well thank God that's over'. Can't say it makes me want to read another Minette Walters book again.
x
June 6, 2011
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 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.
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 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.
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May 20, 2023Bu kitap Türkçeye ilk kez doğduğum yıl çevrilmiş. Şimdi aradan yirmi üç yıl geçti ve bu kez de benim çevirimle çıkıyor :)
Buz Evi, Minette Walters'ın ilk kitabı. Yazarlık kariyerinin ilerleyen safhalarında farklı türlere yönelse de ilk kitabıyla polisiye bir giriş yapıyor Walters. Malikanesi, aşçısı, bahçıvanı, duman altı polis karakolları derken kitap klasik bir doksanlar polisiyesi gibi başlasa da sayfalar ilerledikçe bu klasik örgü dallanıp budaklanıyor. İngiliz kırsalındaki tiplemeleri ve dönemin feminist görüşlerini Orta Çağ referanslarıyla süslüyor. Başından sonuna kadar merak unsurunu diri tutan, dinamik bir kitap.
Buz Evi, Minette Walters'ın ilk kitabı. Yazarlık kariyerinin ilerleyen safhalarında farklı türlere yönelse de ilk kitabıyla polisiye bir giriş yapıyor Walters. Malikanesi, aşçısı, bahçıvanı, duman altı polis karakolları derken kitap klasik bir doksanlar polisiyesi gibi başlasa da sayfalar ilerledikçe bu klasik örgü dallanıp budaklanıyor. İngiliz kırsalındaki tiplemeleri ve dönemin feminist görüşlerini Orta Çağ referanslarıyla süslüyor. Başından sonuna kadar merak unsurunu diri tutan, dinamik bir kitap.
December 16, 2023
90’larda yayımlandığında adından epey söz ettiren bir polisiye. Seneler önce eşi tarafından terk edilen iki çocuklu Phoebe’nin yaşamına tanık oluyoruz. Çocukları başka şehirlerde ama iki kadın arkadaşıyla yaşıyor. Yaşadıkları çiftlik evindeki buz odasında bir ölü bulunuyor. Buzdolabının hayata girmesiyle kullanılmayan yapıyı, sarmaşıklar ve otlar bürümüş. İçeri birinin girdiğini gösteren herhangi bir iz yok. Hiçbir zorlanma belirtisi olmayan kapının üstünde bile hala otlar durur vaziyette. Phoebe’nin başındaki tek bela bu değildir tabi ki. Eşinin kayboloşu da muammalı. Bir anda gideceğini söyleyen adama hiçbir yerde rastlanmaz. Phoebe’nin ailesinden kalan işi batırdığı için de öldürüldüğü düşünülür. Buz evindeki cesedin yüzü ve elleri çok deforme durumda ve haliyle polisin ilk düşündüğü şey cesedin eşine ait olduğu oluyor. Tüm şüpheler Phoebe’de toplanıyor. Roman konu itibariyle klasik polisiyeleri hatırlatıyor. Hatta Walters’a Agatha Christie’nin mirasçısı deniyor. Roman ilerledikçe bu yoruma şaşırdım. Böylesi güzel bir konuyu insanı bezdirecek ölçüde dağınık anlatıyor. Bir anda aksiyon başlatıp saçma sapan bir diyalogla başka bir konu konuşmaya başlıyor. Evde yaşayan üç kadın da pek bağ kurulacak karakterler olmuyor. Tüm karakterler birbiriyle dalga geçiyor ve ciddi bir konuya bağlanmaya çalışıyor gibiler. Kitabın geçmişle yüzleşme kısmı dışında anlatımından rahatsız oldum. Bunu çok az kitap için derim ama tüm sürükleyiciliği öldüren bir özensizlik var. Özensizlik mi yeteneksizlik mi emin değilim işin aslı. Çok güzel bir konuyu kurguyu farklılaştırmak adına çok kötü işlemiş yazar. Uzun zamandır baskısı olmadığı için epey sevinsem de tatmin edicilikten uzak bir polisiyeydi.
November 17, 2017
A dead body is discovered in the ice house of a country manor, a body with no identifying marks, not even fingerprints. Throw in the three eccentric women who live on the manor and their controversial past, tongues are wagging out all sorts of conspiracies spiced with sexual innuendos.
The characters are offbeat and the reader gets a picture of the incestuous social setting in a small English village, whcih was enough for me to find it interesting..
The characters are offbeat and the reader gets a picture of the incestuous social setting in a small English village, whcih was enough for me to find it interesting..
December 26, 2019
A lovely lady I work with gave me a pile of her favourite books to read for the holidays. I love being given books and I like the idea of picking up something I would not normally have read...but at the same time it is a double edged sword as you feel compelled to want to love it too.
This murder mystery book was written in 1993 and I think my biggest issue with it is that it has dated badly over the past 25 years - especially the sexist remarks, the homophobic remarks, the abuse that is tolerated....it really was difficult for me to embrace these characters at all. The mystery though was quite well done and although all the loose ends were tied up, I am not quite sure whether you would be able to pick it on the clues provided and that there were so many side characters to keep track of that it all became rather confusing in the end.
I had never heard of an Ice House before so I confess, the most exciting thing I found about the book was when I put the book down and started reading up on Ice Houses (structures designed to store ice prior to the invention of the refrigerator) and of course the site for the body to be found in this book. I love learning new things when I read and it doesn't matter what you read...there is always a new word/idea/concept to ponder.
An okay read...
Reading Challenge
Aussie Reader's 2019 December Challenge: Read books that titles spell out the word Xmas RobIn
This murder mystery book was written in 1993 and I think my biggest issue with it is that it has dated badly over the past 25 years - especially the sexist remarks, the homophobic remarks, the abuse that is tolerated....it really was difficult for me to embrace these characters at all. The mystery though was quite well done and although all the loose ends were tied up, I am not quite sure whether you would be able to pick it on the clues provided and that there were so many side characters to keep track of that it all became rather confusing in the end.
I had never heard of an Ice House before so I confess, the most exciting thing I found about the book was when I put the book down and started reading up on Ice Houses (structures designed to store ice prior to the invention of the refrigerator) and of course the site for the body to be found in this book. I love learning new things when I read and it doesn't matter what you read...there is always a new word/idea/concept to ponder.
An okay read...
Reading Challenge
Aussie Reader's 2019 December Challenge: Read books that titles spell out the word Xmas RobIn
August 7, 2015
I was complaining on Twitter that I don't have enough mystery series to follow or mystery authors who are consistently putting out great books. Minette Walters was someone I'd never heard of before, but she was recommended by author Stephanie Gayle and I'm hugely grateful for it. I feel like Walters and I will have a long and happy relationship.
With The Ice House Walters manages to update the old-school Christie-style manor-house mystery with modern characters and settings. (Regular references to lesbianism, alcoholism, birth control, etc. help remind you that you're not in one of those old 30's novels, but it's easy to forget with Walters' breezy yet classic style.) It's a fairly complex plot that starts off appearing quite simple, another Christie hallmark. Everything does get shaken out in the end, and the answers are both unexpected and totally logical.
I will definitely be reading much more Walters, hopefully my library has her entire repertoire. How did I go this long without knowing about her??
With The Ice House Walters manages to update the old-school Christie-style manor-house mystery with modern characters and settings. (Regular references to lesbianism, alcoholism, birth control, etc. help remind you that you're not in one of those old 30's novels, but it's easy to forget with Walters' breezy yet classic style.) It's a fairly complex plot that starts off appearing quite simple, another Christie hallmark. Everything does get shaken out in the end, and the answers are both unexpected and totally logical.
I will definitely be reading much more Walters, hopefully my library has her entire repertoire. How did I go this long without knowing about her??
April 5, 2020
This was Walters debut novel… a tale of three woman suspected of getting away with murder... 10 years later a body suddenly turns up in the ice house. 5 out of 12. An OK read that had it's up and downs storytelling wise, by the main concept was/is pretty interesting.
November 16, 2023
Gereğinden fazla uzatılmasaymış iyi bir polisiye olabilirmiş...
April 19, 2015
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 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.
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.
December 15, 2010
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 caricature and actual character. Walters does provide the reader with more details than Dame Agatha Christie would have, but they still don’t leap off the page as real, living people and the plot suffers as a consequence. It’s difficult for the reader to truly empathise at the big confrontations, or to be surprised at the sudden shocks as we don’t know these people well enough to genuinely care, nor have a firm understanding on what they would or wouldn’t do. In addition, I can accept the ostensibly unsympathetic policeman actually being sympathetic (and vice versa), but it happens so suddenly in this book as to make the Damascene Conversion look long and drawn out.
It maintains its air of mystery well and the denouement was not quite what I was expecting (well the very last bit was) and I’ll give it points for that, but this felt more like a book to pass the time than to be riveted by.
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 caricature and actual character. Walters does provide the reader with more details than Dame Agatha Christie would have, but they still don’t leap off the page as real, living people and the plot suffers as a consequence. It’s difficult for the reader to truly empathise at the big confrontations, or to be surprised at the sudden shocks as we don’t know these people well enough to genuinely care, nor have a firm understanding on what they would or wouldn’t do. In addition, I can accept the ostensibly unsympathetic policeman actually being sympathetic (and vice versa), but it happens so suddenly in this book as to make the Damascene Conversion look long and drawn out.
It maintains its air of mystery well and the denouement was not quite what I was expecting (well the very last bit was) and I’ll give it points for that, but this felt more like a book to pass the time than to be riveted by.
April 12, 2018
The mystery itself was compelling and compellingly presented, but I can't get over my disappointment with the characters.
The novel itself waffled strangely between a wryly feminist understanding of the world as it is (which I can certainly appreciate) and a discordantly misogynist dismissal of several individual women as vapid walking stereotypes. It made our central triad seem complex and interesting not because they, like all women, are human, but because they are "not like other girls".
I think mainly I've learned that books from the 90s haven't aged enough for me to be ready to read them: the gushing description of wall-to-wall white carpet I can accept as reflecting the times, but the characters' worldview is both too alien and too familiar to be anything but distracting. I have better luck with the eighteenth century.
The novel itself waffled strangely between a wryly feminist understanding of the world as it is (which I can certainly appreciate) and a discordantly misogynist dismissal of several individual women as vapid walking stereotypes. It made our central triad seem complex and interesting not because they, like all women, are human, but because they are "not like other girls".
I think mainly I've learned that books from the 90s haven't aged enough for me to be ready to read them: the gushing description of wall-to-wall white carpet I can accept as reflecting the times, but the characters' worldview is both too alien and too familiar to be anything but distracting. I have better luck with the eighteenth century.
May 23, 2017
I know this is for the hardcover but I actually read the mass market.
I read a later book by Minette Walters and fell in love with her writing style. This is her debut noel and honestly, it's superb! Ice House is the story of three women living in an English manor house. One of them has been accused of murdering her husband ten years ago. Flash forward and a body is discovered in the ice house. Suddenly, all three women are suspects and the local village folk don't know what to think. Tongues wag, as they usually do in small English villages, and hatred spreads like wildfire. The more the police unravel, the deeper the mystery. A superb mystery that kept me up half the night. Highly recommend!
My Rating: 4 stars
I read a later book by Minette Walters and fell in love with her writing style. This is her debut noel and honestly, it's superb! Ice House is the story of three women living in an English manor house. One of them has been accused of murdering her husband ten years ago. Flash forward and a body is discovered in the ice house. Suddenly, all three women are suspects and the local village folk don't know what to think. Tongues wag, as they usually do in small English villages, and hatred spreads like wildfire. The more the police unravel, the deeper the mystery. A superb mystery that kept me up half the night. Highly recommend!
My Rating: 4 stars
June 1, 2020
Eerste keer dat ik wat van deze schrijfster gelezen heb, smaakt naar meer!
February 1, 2021
An in-depth character study of the police officers central to the investigation, the suspects and various village residents.
A body in advanced decomposition is found in the ice house in Streech Grange, the site of a disappearance ten years previous. Will the body in the ice house turn out to be the missing man -- the husband of the mistress of Streech Grange. Inspector Walsh is certain the body is that of David Maybury, the man Walsh tried to prove his wife, Phoebe, had killed in the decade-old investigation.
A body in advanced decomposition is found in the ice house in Streech Grange, the site of a disappearance ten years previous. Will the body in the ice house turn out to be the missing man -- the husband of the mistress of Streech Grange. Inspector Walsh is certain the body is that of David Maybury, the man Walsh tried to prove his wife, Phoebe, had killed in the decade-old investigation.
August 8, 2022
The Ice House is a solid crime novel from the early 90s. The setting - a stately manor house in the countryside - is rather reminiscent of Agatha Christie. However, Walters made a definite shift from the Christie tradition in several elements (especially the characters and the issue of mob mentality).
I had a few gripes, but this didn't detract me from reading. The premise is quite interesting and I was turning pages to the end.
I had a few gripes, but this didn't detract me from reading. The premise is quite interesting and I was turning pages to the end.
May 11, 2020
Long and confusing
April 10, 2014
For most of the past week, I ploughed through a W. Somerset Maugham collection with that signature pleasure one has in reading one short story after another. Maugham’s stories can wear thin after a while, however, owing to their formulaic structure. So I took a break for something completely different: The Ice House is a crime novel, but Minette Walters plays with a lot of crime conventions. It’s not entirely clear if a crime has been committed or who the victim is, let alone who the murderer might be.
I only had a vague conception of what an “ice house” actually is. Being Canadian, the first thing that comes to mind are those hut-like structures one erects atop a frozen lake when ice-fishing. That’s not what this is. It’s actually this, which makes much more sense. Not only are such buildings good for keeping ice cold, but they are also nice places to store bodies. The only thing that surprises me is that this doesn’t happen more often!
Walters creates and sustains interest beyond the initial, intriguing selection of the setting. Firstly, there is the question of whether Phoebe actually killed her husband, David, all those years ago. Secondly, there is the related question about the identity of the discovered body and whether its death was accidental or intentional. Finally, the relationships between Phoebe and her friends and the village around Streech Grange result in a tense atmosphere not at all aided by the dynamic among the women of Streech Grange and the police officers assigned to the case.
For most of the novel, Walters very carefully avoids providing any hard evidence either way regarding whether Phoebe killed David. She dances deftly around the issue, dangling tantalizing scenes before the reader that seem to imply Phoebe’s guilt, then in the next chapter revealing evidence that seems to preclude her involvement at all. As the situation surrounding David’s disappearance becomes clearer, so too does our understanding of Phoebe’s character and whether she had the motive, opportunity, and willingness to kill her husband. Watching this develop proves a very interesting experience.
Similarly, Walters keeps the identity of the body a mystery for as long as possible. It is too recent to be David—unless he disappeared, only to resurface and die in the ice house for some reason. Indeed, I wasn’t that impressed by the resolution to this mystery. It makes a neat sort of sense—the kind of neatness that only really shows up in the twee world of the crime novel, where coincidence is the only thing more common than murder. Regardless, this mystery is even more important because of what it means for the police who are involved. DCI Walsh is in charge of the case, as he was in charge of the first investigation at Streech Grange. His experience ten years ago now colours his expectations of these events, and it soon becomes clear that he is emotionally invested in showing that the body is David’s.
The other half of the “dynamic duo” is Sergeant Andy McLoughlin. At the beginning of the book, Walsh is the reasonable, understanding “good cop” and McLoughlin is the rough, straight-to-the-point “bad cop”. Walsh displays a tolerant attitude towards the apparent lesbian relationship among Phoebe, Diana, and Anne; McLoughlin wastes no opportunity to single it out as strange. Gradually, the roles of these two policemen in the eyes of the reader reverse. McLoughlin seems to mellow (though there remains a staunch misogynistic streak in keeping with his overall character) as his attraction to Anne grows and he becomes more committed to finding the truth. Meanwhile, Walsh seems to become more and more obsessed with proving Phoebe guilty of murder, to the point where he almost crosses the line of tampering with the investigation. These two men start as colleagues but soon stop seeing eye-to-eye as each one’s biases take their focuses on the investigation in different directions.
For such a slim volume, then, The Ice House has a lot going on. There is far more beneath the surface here than might seem at first glance, and that is the true talent that Walters displays. I don’t often read straight-up crime novels (if they have a supernatural or science-fiction element, then I’m there). That’s just a matter of preference on my part, rather than an issue with the genre as a whole. So as a relative outsider to the genre, take my enthusiasm with a grain of salt—but also take it as a recommendation that this is a story even a dilettante can enjoy.
The Ice House was published in 1992. It’s practically pre-Web, pre–mobile phone. We’ve moved on from then; missing persons cases (and murder investigations) have changed. So in this way, the book is a relic of a now-lost time, just like all contemporary crime thrillers through the ages. If it were published today, it would be in a different climate, one influenced by the nascent surveillance society wracked with scandals and the discontent of a generation that cannot go quietly into the good night. For all its differences from the present atmosphere, though, it holds up remarkably well. With tragedy and romance as well as crime, its strength of characters and simple set of interconnected mysteries make The Ice House an enduring novel with more complexity than meets the eye.
I only had a vague conception of what an “ice house” actually is. Being Canadian, the first thing that comes to mind are those hut-like structures one erects atop a frozen lake when ice-fishing. That’s not what this is. It’s actually this, which makes much more sense. Not only are such buildings good for keeping ice cold, but they are also nice places to store bodies. The only thing that surprises me is that this doesn’t happen more often!
Walters creates and sustains interest beyond the initial, intriguing selection of the setting. Firstly, there is the question of whether Phoebe actually killed her husband, David, all those years ago. Secondly, there is the related question about the identity of the discovered body and whether its death was accidental or intentional. Finally, the relationships between Phoebe and her friends and the village around Streech Grange result in a tense atmosphere not at all aided by the dynamic among the women of Streech Grange and the police officers assigned to the case.
For most of the novel, Walters very carefully avoids providing any hard evidence either way regarding whether Phoebe killed David. She dances deftly around the issue, dangling tantalizing scenes before the reader that seem to imply Phoebe’s guilt, then in the next chapter revealing evidence that seems to preclude her involvement at all. As the situation surrounding David’s disappearance becomes clearer, so too does our understanding of Phoebe’s character and whether she had the motive, opportunity, and willingness to kill her husband. Watching this develop proves a very interesting experience.
Similarly, Walters keeps the identity of the body a mystery for as long as possible. It is too recent to be David—unless he disappeared, only to resurface and die in the ice house for some reason. Indeed, I wasn’t that impressed by the resolution to this mystery. It makes a neat sort of sense—the kind of neatness that only really shows up in the twee world of the crime novel, where coincidence is the only thing more common than murder. Regardless, this mystery is even more important because of what it means for the police who are involved. DCI Walsh is in charge of the case, as he was in charge of the first investigation at Streech Grange. His experience ten years ago now colours his expectations of these events, and it soon becomes clear that he is emotionally invested in showing that the body is David’s.
The other half of the “dynamic duo” is Sergeant Andy McLoughlin. At the beginning of the book, Walsh is the reasonable, understanding “good cop” and McLoughlin is the rough, straight-to-the-point “bad cop”. Walsh displays a tolerant attitude towards the apparent lesbian relationship among Phoebe, Diana, and Anne; McLoughlin wastes no opportunity to single it out as strange. Gradually, the roles of these two policemen in the eyes of the reader reverse. McLoughlin seems to mellow (though there remains a staunch misogynistic streak in keeping with his overall character) as his attraction to Anne grows and he becomes more committed to finding the truth. Meanwhile, Walsh seems to become more and more obsessed with proving Phoebe guilty of murder, to the point where he almost crosses the line of tampering with the investigation. These two men start as colleagues but soon stop seeing eye-to-eye as each one’s biases take their focuses on the investigation in different directions.
For such a slim volume, then, The Ice House has a lot going on. There is far more beneath the surface here than might seem at first glance, and that is the true talent that Walters displays. I don’t often read straight-up crime novels (if they have a supernatural or science-fiction element, then I’m there). That’s just a matter of preference on my part, rather than an issue with the genre as a whole. So as a relative outsider to the genre, take my enthusiasm with a grain of salt—but also take it as a recommendation that this is a story even a dilettante can enjoy.
The Ice House was published in 1992. It’s practically pre-Web, pre–mobile phone. We’ve moved on from then; missing persons cases (and murder investigations) have changed. So in this way, the book is a relic of a now-lost time, just like all contemporary crime thrillers through the ages. If it were published today, it would be in a different climate, one influenced by the nascent surveillance society wracked with scandals and the discontent of a generation that cannot go quietly into the good night. For all its differences from the present atmosphere, though, it holds up remarkably well. With tragedy and romance as well as crime, its strength of characters and simple set of interconnected mysteries make The Ice House an enduring novel with more complexity than meets the eye.
September 21, 2023
Zanimljiv slučaj i glavni likovi. Puno nepoznanica koje vremenom otkrivamo. Bilo mi je zanimljivo čitati ali nisam osjetila neku veliku napetost ili želju da što prije saznam što će se dogoditi. Dobro razrješenje mada sam očekivala nešto što će me malo više iznenaditi.
"Život je zagonetka. Na kraju ćete se okrenuti i vidjeti da se svaki komadić uklapa, čak i ako to sada ne vidite. Na kraju će sve ispasti dobro. Uvijek je tako."
3.5⭐
"Život je zagonetka. Na kraju ćete se okrenuti i vidjeti da se svaki komadić uklapa, čak i ako to sada ne vidite. Na kraju će sve ispasti dobro. Uvijek je tako."
3.5⭐
August 30, 2018
Thiếu cao trào, không hấp dẫn cho lắm.
October 31, 2020
Minette Walters- provjerena majstorica (triler) žanra. Teško da će vas razočarati. Pravi britanski krimić!
July 16, 2024
Tatsız bir polisiye. Karakterlerin biri bile sempatik değil ve kimseyle özdeşleşip vakayı takip edemedim. Hepsi ayrı cinsti.
December 23, 2022
Una grande casa di campagna a ridosso di un pittoresco paesino inglese, la casa è abitata da 3 amiche: Phoebe è la padrona di casa, Anne e Diana sono le coinquiline e da una coppia di domestici.
Proprio Fred, il giardiniere, fa una terribile scoperta nella ghiacciaia, un cadavere irriconoscibile, la polizia viene immediatamente avvertita.
L'ispettore Walsh si precipita a Streech Grange, ha un conto in sospeso con la padrona di casa, infatti 10 anni prima aveva cercato inutilmente di incriminarla per l'omicidio del marito di cui si erano perse le tracce.
Questo è quello che succede nelle primissime pagine ed è un avvio che mi ha davvero entusiasmato, man mano che procedevo nella lettura mi sono resa conto che cercare di scoprire chi è il colpevole è per il lettore un esercizio abbastanza inutile.
Per tutto il libro non si è certi dell'identità del cadavere, ad un certo punto non si è sicuri nemmeno se ci sia stato un omicidio, l'unica cosa da fare è lasciarsi condurre per mano dalla Walters sperando che l'intricata trama fatta di tanti personaggi e avvenimenti apparentemente scollegati tra di loro alla fine portino ad una soluzione soddisfacente.
La soluzione è stata in effetti abbastanza soddisfacente, molto buona se si pensa che questo è l'esordio della scrittrice.
Nelle ultime pagine c'è addirittura un colpo di scena inaspettato che mi ha fatto decidere di alzare il voto da 3,5 a 4 stelline.
Non so se questo libro sia per tutti, sebbene sia un contemporaneo risulta in tutto e per tutto un classico, solo alcuni accenni ogni tanto ad un cellulare o ad una Jacuzzi ti fa ricordare che in effetti dovremmo essere nella metà degli anni '90, per il resto potremmo essere tranquillamente negli stessi anni in cui scriveva la Christie.
Quindi se amate i classici buttatevi, perchè potrebbe piacervi, se invece non siete fra questi, i libri di Minette Walters potrebbero essere indigesti per voi.
Proprio Fred, il giardiniere, fa una terribile scoperta nella ghiacciaia, un cadavere irriconoscibile, la polizia viene immediatamente avvertita.
L'ispettore Walsh si precipita a Streech Grange, ha un conto in sospeso con la padrona di casa, infatti 10 anni prima aveva cercato inutilmente di incriminarla per l'omicidio del marito di cui si erano perse le tracce.
Questo è quello che succede nelle primissime pagine ed è un avvio che mi ha davvero entusiasmato, man mano che procedevo nella lettura mi sono resa conto che cercare di scoprire chi è il colpevole è per il lettore un esercizio abbastanza inutile.
Per tutto il libro non si è certi dell'identità del cadavere, ad un certo punto non si è sicuri nemmeno se ci sia stato un omicidio, l'unica cosa da fare è lasciarsi condurre per mano dalla Walters sperando che l'intricata trama fatta di tanti personaggi e avvenimenti apparentemente scollegati tra di loro alla fine portino ad una soluzione soddisfacente.
La soluzione è stata in effetti abbastanza soddisfacente, molto buona se si pensa che questo è l'esordio della scrittrice.
Nelle ultime pagine c'è addirittura un colpo di scena inaspettato che mi ha fatto decidere di alzare il voto da 3,5 a 4 stelline.
Non so se questo libro sia per tutti, sebbene sia un contemporaneo risulta in tutto e per tutto un classico, solo alcuni accenni ogni tanto ad un cellulare o ad una Jacuzzi ti fa ricordare che in effetti dovremmo essere nella metà degli anni '90, per il resto potremmo essere tranquillamente negli stessi anni in cui scriveva la Christie.
Quindi se amate i classici buttatevi, perchè potrebbe piacervi, se invece non siete fra questi, i libri di Minette Walters potrebbero essere indigesti per voi.
January 10, 2015
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 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
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 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
May 15, 2008
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...
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