The Ice Maiden: A Britt Montero Mystery

By Edna Buchanan

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: May 19, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061942709

Edna Buchanan

Edna Buchanan worked The Miami Herald police beat for eighteen years, during which she won scores of awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the George Polk Award for Career Achievement in Journalism. Edna attracted international acclaim for her classic true-crime memoirs, The Corpse Has a Familiar Face and Never Let Them See You Cry. Her first novel of suspense, Nobody Lives Forever, was nominated for an Edgar Award.

Reviews for The Ice Maiden

[fiberbabble_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Entertaining mystery. It might have been rated 4 stars if the writer had just stuck to the mystery.

The two subplots were totally unnecessary and out of place. Since I was listening to the audio book version, I just skipped ahead. Seriously. Totally unnecessary. The unnecessary romance subplot was particularly difficult to bear because the reader (Anna Fields) didn't sound like (or make the character sound like) she went in for male company... in that way. How can you not have chemistry between two characters when you're voicing them BOTH?

I loved the supporting character of Lottie, especially her 'take' on the Queen Mum and Lassie.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 ***Buchanan is a wonderful storyteller and she really can build the tension in a thriller. When a burglar is electrocuted by a booby trap Brit Montero, Miami crime-beat reporter, is stunned that the proprietor of the shop is being charged. As she investigates she find a connection between the burglar and a very old, still unsolved, rape and murder. She gets the attention of the lead detective on the Cold Case Squad (Craig Burch), but the lieutenant (K C Riley) isn’t buying it, and the surviving victim isn’t interested in talking to the detectives. But none of this deters our intrepid reporter from following the leads. As a sideline Brit spends some time getting her love life in order. It’s a page turner, finely crafted by a master. And there are a couple of surprises in store for the reader.

[diana.hauser · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

THE ICE MAIDEN: A BRITT MONTERO MYSTERY (Book 8) is written by Edna Buchanan.Edna Buchanan is an American journalist and writer best known for her crime mystery novels. She won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for general news reporting “for her versatile and consistently excellent police beat reporting.”Ms. Buchanan worked the police beat for 18 years at The Miami Herald and covered more crimes than most cops.In THE ICE MAIDEN, a chance encounter with an unusually scarred corpse at Miami’s Morgue, may be the key to unlocking long-ago secrets of a sensational cold case murder mystery.I read many of Ms. Buchanan’s mystery novels years ago, but recently stumbled upon THE ICE MAIDEN from 2002. I knew I had to read it and head down to the craziness that is Miami.Her mysteries, police procedurals and crime novels are 1st rate - hot as the Miami sun in July. Ms. Buchanan is a wonderful author with stories very fast-paced, suspenseful, realistic and gritty. Her books and short stories are always a treat. ****