The Ice Queen

I stayed up till 2:00 am, skipped a party, and was lost to my family in the two days that it took me to read this book. The novel is full of unexpected plot twists and character revelations that upend what you've thought while reading. I particularly liked the focus on WWII perpetrators and victims, and the questions about guilt and justice with which the novel engages. Yes, the villain is ultimately a bit too over-the-top-evil, with not enough nuance, and yes, the array of characters is dizzying and I had to make notes to myself as I read. I'm still not exactly sure why one character is killed, and the body count is high. However, the novel isn't gory or gratuitously violent. Of most interest is the dialogue and the very likeable central characters, especially the smart main female detective, Pia. I loved the German setting as well. In short, a fun escape, well-translated.

"The Ice Queen", by German author Nele Neuhaus, is the seventh in the "Kirchoff/von Bodenstein mystery series. I have not read the preceding six. Set in the Taunus area, north of Frankfurt, the book is similar to the police procedurals from the UK which feature a chief detective and his group of underlings, charged with investigating a very gruesome crime. These series tend to follow the lives and careers of the police from book to book. For a reader, reading a successive book in a series is often like catching up with old friends. An old man is found shot to death in his home, execution-style and Bodenstein and his crew are brought in to investigate the murder. The victim, a Jewish man who had survived the Holocaust and then moved to the US and made a fortune, has returned to the Frankfurt area to live out his last years. But during the autopsy, it's discovered that this Jewish man was not exactly Jewish. He has a tattoo, sure, but it's not that of a concentration camp prisoner; it's the blood-type tattoo of a member of the Waffen-SS. Soon, two other old people are found shot in the same style and careful examination at their pasts also turn up Nazi connections. A local family of wealthy industrialists are at the center of the investigation and as the bodies pile up, Bodenstein is tasked with putting the disparate parts together. The "Ice Queen" is the matriarch of the family. Many of the book's characters are not who they say they are and the sins of war time are brought forward seventy years. The murders occur in Frankfurt in the 2010's but are echos of those which took place in the 1940's in the eastern area of Prussia. Nele Neuhaus is a good writer. She has written interesting characters and the plot, while a bit convoluted, holds together nicely. Curiously, she did not use or expand on the most interesting plot point - a Nazi SS officer who escapes after the war by assuming a Jewish identity. Years ago, the author Robert Fish, wrote a fascinating novel called "Pursuit", which was the story of an SS officer who plans to evade the Allied forces after WW2 by adopting a Jewish identity, including undergoing plastic surgery to make himself look more Semitic. It's no longer in print, but if you can find a used copy, it's well worth reading. "The Ice Queen" is the first Neuhaus book I've read, but I'll be back for more.

This is the best book I have had the privilege to read in a long time. Historically correct with a complex plot that is gripping from start to finish. Prussia in 1945 plays a pivotal role in this utterly absorbing and riveting thriller. The characters are believable with a meticulous attention to detail that holds the reader spellbound. Germany in 1945 had thousands of S.S. members - all of whom were trying to hide their identity, thus allowing for this multilayered thriller. The collaboration of of the collected will of investigating officers, who are obsessively determined to find the truth ,go back to the place where it all began and disclosure of evidence draws this intricately and gripping novel to a brilliant end. I am now reading a second book, Bad Wolf by Nile NeuHaus. Have good things to say. Love that I have discovered this amazing author!

it’s hard to read, the print is very small but it is a good story

This is an exciting (if over the top) thriller in an interesting police procedural series from Germany, but there's a problem: only some of the series is available in English, and what's available isn't in order. According to "Goodreads", there are seven novels in the series. Four are available in English. This ond,"The Ice Queen, is number three: "Snow White Must Die" is number four, "Bad Wolf" number six, "I Am Your Judge" number seven. That means that the first two novels in the series are not available, and that's big weakness. The same two detectives (Pia Kirchoff and Oliver Bodenstein) are the central characters in all the novels, and their lives change over time. Missing the starting point is a bother, as is reading about later events (in "Snow White Must Die") before earlier ones (in "The Ice Queen") . It was all too easy to do, since "Snow White" was the first of the series to appear in English. True compulsives may want to avoid the series until the whole thing is available in English. Those who are less compulsive, and want a compelling read, give it a try. The story begins with the murder of an elderly gentleman believed to be a Holocaust survivor, who turns out to be something rather different: a former SS official. Our detectives are told very firmly to stay very far away from this case: strings are clearly being pulled by powerful people. But when another murder follows -- also of a former SS official -- the case can't be kept off limits. A wealthy and aristocratic family, it becomes clear, is deeply involved, and murder follows murder. Like "Snow White Must Die", this was a hard book to put down, which means that it meets my first requirement for a thriller. It's not, however, as good a book, in my view, as "Snow White Must Die", largely because the story goes so far over the top. As an aficianado of Scandi noir, I am perfectly willing to accept multiple murders, baroque murder methods, and truly outre murder motives, but this one tests the limits.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it encouraged me to read her books which have been translated . I can only hope that the untranslated books soon become available. The characters excellently drawn and police procedure well executed .

wow...I just loveher books.....I just cant keep my book down....Sje is one of the best author....and the book is Super Awesome....Love it a lot

This is one of the better Scandinavian detective novela

Intriguing mystery. Very enjoyable