The Girl in the Ice

A hallmark of a great story is that you're fully engrossed in it. I was pulled out of the story multiple times by poor editing and weird, crammed-in details that didn't serve any purpose (IMHO).

At times I felt like Erika was really out of control and made some really shitty decisions, but in the end I really enjoyed this all-over-the-place story.

La historia arranca muy bien. De inmediato se nos narra un asesinato y luego empieza todo el trabajo policial. Sin embargo, a medida que avanza la historia empieza a decaer. Erika Forter (la detective protagonista) es el típico estereotipo de detective veterano ultra dedicado a su trabajo con una gran tragedia sobre los hombros (muy trillado). Luego vienen los “oportunos” actos que permiten que la trama llegue hasta el final, un final muy flojo. Estos oportunos actos además arruinan el misterio de la novela, ya que nuestra heroína detective no es que descubra mucho, y al final, todo se resuelve con una “oportuna” confesión obtenida de la forma más ridícula posible.

Me gustó como está escrito, me gustó el ritmo, pero lamentablemente es una historia que se va a pique después de la mitad.

Posted at Squirtoon's Bookish Blog

4.5 stars, rated down that .5 for reasons I'll explain below!

Minor spoilers below

I started and finished this book in the same day. Hell, in a few hours. I read it in one sitting. It's one of those books where you need to know what happens as soon as possible. This is the first police procedural book I've read in a long while, and boy am I glad I picked it up. It was a lot closer to what I imagined would happen with something like this. The media, the police, the country, would focus on the dead rich girl, and not pay enough/any attention to the foreign Eastern European girls, even though paying attention to the others was the key to breaking the case. There was so many twists and turns to this novel, which in themselves were enjoyable, but were slightly dampened by the fact I had a pretty good guess on who the killer might be from about the 50% mark. This is what dropped that .5 for me. I like to be kept guessing until the very end. I don't like the books where you very quickly know who the killer is, and you're left rolling your eyes as the detective slowly bumbles towards the answer.

My favourite thing about this novel was the character building. The protagonist had a brilliant, unique personality and voice. The secondary characters were so different, with intriguing stories of their own, and the victim's family fit so perfectly into everything, with their craziness and pretentiousness. All the characters were just fantastic.

I picked this book up with Kindle Unlimited, and if you're subscribed, I would highly recommend you to grab a copy as well. I'm pretty sure you won't regret it.

Enjoyable but fairly typical detective novel. I never really felt emotionally invested in any of the characters, which was a drawback for me. The story was fast paced and moved along quickly, which was a plus. Recommended for anyone who is looking for a quick mystery read.

Likable debut novel and i will try the second to see if it grows. My biggest problem is that Foster is fairly one dimensional in her approach. Use a sledgehammer each time. Nothing wrong in that if it gets a result but there were two or three times throughout the novel that you know she would have elicited more info from folks by being “good cop” some of the time.

The Girl in the Ice starts with a bang and the tension just keeps building throughout the book. It's very well-paced and there is plenty of action. This is an excellent edge-of-your-seat crime thriller!

The plot grabbed me from the very first page. The writing flows well and is very descriptive. I was able to easily picture all of the surroundings and characters. I really felt immersed in the story.

This book has it all.... Murder, crazy old hookers, suspense, dark secrets, and plenty of plot twists. The characters were really well-thought out and developed. I really enjoyed them all and I loved how their backstories contributed to the plot.

I must say, I am LOVING these strong female leads I have been reading about lately. DCI Erika Foster is one bad ass chick!