I’m excited to share my review for Death on Ice by RO Thorp #mystery #cosymystery #newrelease

Here’s the blurb

A scientist nobody liked has been murdered on the Arctic ice . .

Meet the Blanchard twins:
Rose is practical, sharp, and protective. Specialty: manta rays.
Finn is too sweet and kind for his own good. Specialty: sharks.

Rose and Finn are looking for sharks on the sea bed. When they return to the Dauphin they make a terrible discovery: their colleague has been murdered on the ice –with a harpoon that should never have been there. Everyone else on the luxury cruise ship  – the wealthy passengers, the researchers hard at work, the tight-knit crew and their strangely calm Captain  – were all aboard at the time, so they are all under suspicion. Rose and Finn were the only two at sea, and they’re miles from anywhere, so it’s up to them to investigate.

On scientific problems, they are a brilliant team – but can the Blanchard twins solve a murder?

Purchase Link

https://amzn.to/3WVbWpV

My Review

Death on Ice has such a good premise, and indeed, the book is very enjoyable, but it does take a little while to get going. For those unsure about it, I would recommend ploughing on through the first 25% until we get to the crux of the matter.

This isn’t really a story about a crime-fighting duo, or if it is, it’s not the twins who are our crime fighters, but rather the two police characters who are flown to the ship and asked to disentangle the complex murder while also trying to solve the crime that has them in the Arctic Circle in the first place.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style, but it took a little bit of getting used to it. This is ‘a busy book’ as in, every word counts. That might sound strange, but often, especially with cosy mysteries, there are some elements that are story-filler and not story-related. This, to me, felt a little bit like The West Wing of old and other TV shows that are conversation and plot-heavy, i.e. you actually have to pay attention throughout the whole episode, and you need to do this with Death on Ice. It’s not a bad thing once you realise it. 

And it is a cleverly spun tale, and by the end of it, I was entirely enthralled with our four main characters and some of the others besides (our lovely sleepy shark). I certainly did not guess the resolution.