‘In Ice’ by Dave Sivers

My Review (5 stars out of 5)

DI Nathan Quarrel and his team uncover a horrific scene in an apparently empty house in a Hertfordshire village. Finding three chest freezers in the basement, they discover the bodies of five naked women. As the investigation gets under way, the team realise they have a serial killer on their hands. But where is the woman who owns the house, and who is the mysterious handyman spotted by neighbours? With the media hounding them for updates and the possibility the killer may already be searching for his next victim, can Quarrel track down the murderer before someone else turns up dead?

This is the second book in the DI Quarrel series, and the first book I’ve read by this author. As it turned out, it might very nearly have been the last. You know what it’s like when you read the first few pages of a book and it really doesn’t grab you? Well, that’s what happened, but when I bit the bullet and started it again a week later, I got up to chapter four and was hooked. As sometimes happens with these things, I couldn’t put it down and finished the book in a single sitting. My only explanation is that sometimes it takes a wee while to ‘tune in’ to an author’s writing style.

Anyway, this a real gem in crime fiction. All the characters are well drawn and authentic with proper backstories that don’t get in the way of the action. With a host of suspects, the story is tightly plotted, the author dropping clues and red herrings to keep us guessing all the way. The dialogue is a bit of a treat too, with none of those clunky dialogue tags I’ve come across so much recently.

A stonking good murder mystery that kept me guessing all the way to the end.

Author Bio

Dave Sivers grew up in West London and has been writing all his life. His books include the popular crime series featuring the Aylesbury Vale detectives, DI Lizzie Archer and DS Dan Baines. The Scars Beneath the Soul and Dead in Deep Water were both top three bestsellers in the Amazon Kindle Serial Killers chart. In Ice is the second in the DI Nathan Quarrel series.

His other works include the Lowmar Dashiel crime fantasy novels.

Dave also writes plays and other material for the amateur stage and is a founder of the annual BeaconLit festival of books and writing. He lives in Buckinghamshire with his wife, Chris.

To keep up with Dave’s news and upcoming releases, subscribe to his newsletter at http://www.davesivers.co.uk.

NB This post first appeared as part of the Blog Tour for ‘In Ice’, via Heather Fitt.

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