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    The Ice House
    The Ice House
    The Ice House
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Ice House

    Written by Minette Walters

    Narrated by Simon Prebble

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Best-selling author Minette Walters writes thrillers that wed classic mystery conventions with contemporary sophistication. In The Ice House-winner of Britain's John Creasey Award for best first crime novel-she serves up a chilling story of love, loyalty, and deadly intrigue. A small British village has long suspected that the three women living in a local manor house are witches-or even worse. So when an unidentifiable body is found in the home's ice house, everyone is set to believe their guilt, especially police inspector Walsh. Ten years ago, Walsh suspected one of the women of murder, but was unable to make a case. Now, he plans to do whatever it takes to untangle the women's secrets. With one unexpected plot twist after another, Minette Walters delivers a mystery which surprises right through to the very end. Narrator Simon Prebble gives voice to Walters' many wonderful characters and the dark web of secrets hidden deep beneath life's surface.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMay 13, 2011
    ISBN9781461812753
    The Ice House
    Author

    Minette Walters

    Minette Walters is England’s bestselling female crime writer. She has written many novels, including The Ice House and The Scold's Bridle, and has won the CWA John Creasey Award, the Edgar Allan Poe Award and two CWA Gold Daggers for Fiction. Minette Walters lives in Dorset with her husband and two children.

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    Reviews for The Ice House

    3.5/5

    418 ratings11 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I first read this in 1999, long enough ago to have forgotten the important bits so it was like reading it for the first time. The action kept up a steady pace and the characters were well-rounded and realistic. I felt empathy for the 3 women, isolated and victimized by the past. It's going back on the shelf to await my next visit to Streech Grange.
    • 2/5
      I finally finished! It took a lot of work and determination to get through, but the story finallly ended. Walters worked so hard to create plot twists and turns throughout the novel, that she lost sight of the story. It's a shame because her characters were interesting. She eventually found her way because the ending of her story was well-written. The beginning and the middle were not worth the read, though.
    • 4/5
      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
    • 4/5
      A man is found dead in an estate's ice house and the women who live there - members of a lesbian witch coven, according to village gossip - are the main suspects, until DS McLoughlin figures out that something is seriously awry, not only with the suspects, but with the victim and, indeed, with everyone else in the village. I did enjoy the mystery a lot, the characters are quite interesting and original, and the locale feels authentic. My problem was that I had a hard time rooting for any of the characters - McLoughlin did grow on me a little, but not enough. It's very good for a debut, though, so I wouldn't be opposed to trying Walters again, but I won't go looking. I do have to say that the audio version is read brilliantly by Simon Prebble, if you can ignore an iffy Scottish dialect.
    • 4/5
      A very good murder mystery......and a smart commentary on small town life and making assumptions about people.
    • 4/5
      I love this book - stumbled across it by accident years ago. Dark, excellent first mystery for this writer.
    • 3/5
      I loved the plot - three women and a corpse - then the cops came. I rather hoped Mcloughlin and Anne would end up in a more serious romance though. The ending is as usual unexpected. Minette once more shows her total brilliance as an author
    • 5/5
      Finally, I'm beginning to read Minette Walters. It's a delight that I've been denying myself since I've been busy with a bunch of other books and series. I've seen some of these dramatized on television, and thought they were great, if a bit creepy! The dramatizations were good, but this book was great! It's been awhile since I've read a book that kept me spellbound throughout the whole thing. I love Ms. Walters' characterizations. Her depiction of the three women of Streech Grange is remarkable. These women are so real, and so are the secrets that they are hiding. We also get a wonderful example of two cops that are as different as can be. Inspector Walsh is a man possessed with a hidden agenda of his own, and Sergeant McLoughlin is a real enigma at the beginning, but turns out to be a tower of strength and rectitude. A new take on "Good Cop, Bad Cop" for sure. I simply can't wait to read the next book after enjoying this one so much.
    • 4/5
      slow to start, but characters start to grow; nice plot twists
    • 5/5
      Unbelievable first book - so deft in the character development, with a tight plot with a good pace and lots of red herrings and possible suspects. The thing that impresses me so much is that this is a masterful psychological study (of the 3 women room-mates, their lovers, children, enemies, and the townspeople) - on a par with Elizabeth George (though much more wry and mischeivous) and with a more ambitious who-done-it aspect.My only quibble was with the relationship between Anne and McLoughlin. It had SO much potential, being built on the foundations of their failures and past hurts, and getting off to that smoldering start with the furious kiss from McL that's half overwhelming desire and half anger. And then...it morphs into a sweeter thing, which is just fine with me, but them bumps along with each pissing off the other over very pedestrian quibbles. Then back on track for a tender denoument. I guess that while I would prefer a storyline that has them burning through their pasts/troubles in a firy compulsive affair, I could go for a more conventional love too, I just really didn't care for the jolting around.I don't know if any of these characters come back in future books, but it wouldn't be a bad idea; the ensemble could certainly hold up. I'm trying to decide now if I should read her books in order or jump around...she is certainly prolific and - from the web site - looks like an appealing person too...
    • 3/5
      I greatly appreciate Minette Walters' writing, but for some reason this one didn't enthral me.