The Ice Maiden: A Novel - Hardcover

Buchanan, Edna

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0380973324 ISBN 13: 9780380973323

Publisher: William Morrow, 2002

Synopsis

A chance encounter with a stranger changes the life of reporter Britt Montero forever. The encounter is at Miami's morgue, where the unidentified stranger lies dead. His unusual old scars capture her curiosity-the dead man clearly had a tale to tell. This thief, who was accidentally electrocuted, may be the key that unlocks the long-sought secrets of a sensational cold murder mystery unsolved for more than fourteen years.

Sunny and Ricky, teenagers on a Christmas Eve first date, were abducted, a shocking crime that was never solved despite a gigantic manhunt, a huge reward, and an outraged community. Frustrated police called the lack of leads eerie. Unnatural. Against all the laws of homicide and human nature. Now Britt wants the story, and she isn't the only one seeking answers.

Sunny survived, the lone witness to that terrible night so long ago. But the reclusive Ice Maiden, now an artist and sculptor estranged from her wealthy family, is not talking and the killer's trail vanished long ago, like footprints in melting snow.

Cold Case Squad Sargeant Craig Burch wants the killer. But as the Miami News reporter and the veteran homicide cop investigate the old outrage, they learn that sometimes the cost of justice is too high.

When you start to turn over rocks, something ugly sometimes slithers out. Monstrous evil from the past emerges to overtake a whole new generation of innocent victims as deadly passions are reawakened and mortal fears resurface.

For Burch, whose elite unit breathes new life into cold murder cases, the investigation strikes too close to home, reigniting his own private obsessions. And Britt, in the wake of national tragedy, is haunted, both awake and asleep, by the persistent ghost of a doomed, lost girl, perhaps a warning of a new tragedy to come. Britt meets the Ice Maiden, nearly freezes to death, and then the trail heats up as the sins of the fathers begin to strike down the innocent. A stone-cold killer out of her past is stalking the Ice Maiden again. Nothing is what it seems. And the inferno is yet to come....

Edna Buchanan, a born storyteller, combines her trademark wit, grit, and tension in The Ice Maiden, a narrative alive with Miami's blistering heat and high-octane atmosphere.

About this title

About the Author

Edna Buchanan knows firsthand that underneath Miami's glistening facade lies a city torn by violence and muddied by corruption, where every moment a crime is waiting to happen. As a Pulitzer Prize-winning crime reporter, Buchanan has exposed the seamier sides of this sun-drenched paradise, then used her more than twenty years of experience to create a dynamic and deadly Miami that vividly comes alive in each of her novels. Especially when the city is seen through the fiercely intense eyes of a tough newspaperwoman named Britt Montero. The author of eleven books, Buchanan has spent time behind bars -- with two serial killers. She lives in Miami, Florida.

Reviews

Buchanan's alter ego, Miami crime reporter Britt Montero, returns as the protagonist of an eighth fast-paced detective thriller (after You Only Die Twice). The Miami police's cold case squad (which investigates long-unsolved crimes) catches a break when an electrocuted burglar proves to be a vital link in solving a 14-year-old murder. Two affluent teenagers on their first date were abducted, assaulted, shot and left for dead. Despite a massive reward and a multi-state manhunt, the police were never able to find the attackers. The girl, Sunny, survived and has become a reclusive sculptress unwilling to revisit the past. But the reopening of the case attracts the attention of some who are willing to kill again, and Sunny finds herself pulled back in. As always, Buchanan packs her tale with fascinating secondary story lines, including a baby trapped in a well, a friend involved in domestic violence and Britt's on-again/off-again romance with detective Kendall McDonald. The somber shadow of September 11 hangs in the air throughout (Britt is plagued by nightmares; McDonald volunteers at Ground Zero). In addition to clever plotting, Buchanan's strong suit is once again her empathy: she always focuses on the devastated family and friends who survive each murder victim. Few will guess the final triple-twist ending of this exceptionally dark and moving entry in a series that never fails to please.achievement in journalism-in addition to an earlier Pulitzer Prize for crime reporting.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Miami News reporter Britt Montero deals with fire and ice in her latest adventure, with crackling results. The victim of a jury-rigged theft deterrent, a jewelry store burglar is found electrocuted in a heating vent. When the police discover that the dead man's torso is covered with grotesque clusters of burn scars, the Cold Case Squad immediately links the corpse to a brutal murder that has gone unsolved for the past 14 years. Two teenagers on their first date were abducted, beaten, raped, shot, and left for dead in a farmer's field. Miraculously, the girl, Sunny Hartley, survived and described the burn scars on one attacker. When the Cold Case Squad is inexplicably pulled from the case, they ask Britt to step in, unofficially. Can Britt and Sunny face the past and solve the crime even as new murders erupt, threatening to destroy both lives and reputations? Surrounded by her usual sidekicks, pets, and lovers, Britt is just as realistic and interesting as she was in You Only Die Twice. Recommended.
Rebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Calumet Lib., Hammond, IN
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Nobody does paradise noir better than Buchanan, the PulitzerPrize-winning former police reporter for the Miami Herald. Sheflashed on the literary scene 10 years ago with her autobiography,The Corpse Had a Familiar Face, and continues to guide readersthrough steamy, seamy Miami in the adventures of her alter ego,newspaper crime writer Britt Montero, who has been wowing audiencessince her debut nine best-selling books ago. Buchanan does what manycrime writers cannot do, which is to render police procedure andpolice culture (especially black humor) believably, while steering thereader through a wildly veering (but again, wholly credible)plot. This time out, Montero shows up at a jewelry store break-in. Awould-be burglar, electrocuted by the much-victimized jeweler's tripwires, is stuck in the ceiling. The burglar's corpse is of interest toMiami PD's Cold Case Squad, as a possible suspect in a 14-year-oldcrime, in which a gang kidnapped two teens out on their first date,then tortured and left them for dead. One of the victims survived and,as Montero discovers, lives a reclusive life as an icesculptor. Montero convinces the Ice Maiden to face her past and try toidentify the long-ago killers. Prime Buchanan. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0380973324
• ISBN 13: 9780380973323
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304