The Ice Queen by Nele Neuhaus
Nele Neuhaus's The Ice Queen is a character- and plot-driven mystery about revenge, power, and long-forgotten and covered up secrets from a time in German history that still affects the present. The body of 92-year-old Jossi Goldberg, Holocaust survivor and American citizen, is found shot to death execution style in his house near Frankfurt. A five-digit number is scrawled in blood at the murder scene. The autopsy reveals an old and unsuccessfully covered tattoo on the corpse's arm-a blood type marker once used by Hitler's SS. Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver Bodenstein are faced with a riddle. Was the old man not Jewish after all? Who was he, really? Two more, similar murders happen-one of a wheelchair-bound old lady in a nursing home, and one of a man with a cellar filled with Nazi paraphernalia-and slowly the connections between the victims becomes evident: All of them were lifelong friends with Vera von Kaltensee, baroness, well-respected philanthropist, and head of an old, rich family that she rules with an iron fist. Pia and Oliver follow the trail, which leads them all the way back to the end of World War II and the area of Poland that then belonged to East Prussia. No one is who they claim to be, and things only begin to make sense when the two investigators realize what the bloody number stands for, and uncover an old diary and an eyewitness who is finally willing to come forward. Editorial Reviews Intriguing...Corpses turn up amid hefty doses of sexual intrigue. Readers need to pay close attention to this solidly plotted and densely populated drama full of red herrings, lest they miss key clues. -Publishers Weekly Lies and revenge are the driving forces of this intelligent mystery. Neuhaus manages a large cast of characters while skillfully executing plot twists. Newcomers to this series will have no problem jumping in with this book and will likely be interested in reading more. -Library Journal ...action packed [and] darkly mysterious. With surprising depth and some downright funny moments, The Ice Queen is a perfect balance of the humorous and the macabre. -Shelfawareness A meaty and substantial novel, enlivened by the personal lives of the principal characters and the genuine-sounding relationships among the detectives. -Critics at Large The Ice Queen is a totally engrossing story. If you haven't found this series yet, you're missing some great reads. -Bookloons.com - From the Publisher 11/24/2014 In German author Neuhaus's intriguing third series thriller to be published in the U.S. (after 2014's Bad Wolf), Det. Insp. Pia Kirchhoff and Supt. Oliver von Bodenstein of the Hofheim Regional Criminal Police in Hesse investigate the shooting murder of David Goldberg, a former White House adviser and revered member of the Frankfurt Jewish community. When an autopsy uncovers an SS tattoo on Goldberg's left shoulder, it becomes clear that the old man is not the Holocaust survivor he claimed to be. Enter Goldberg's friend, the wealthy matriarch Vera von Kaltenese, and her dysfunctional family members, who resist helping the detectives. Kirchhoff and Bodenstein discover a hidden trove of Nazi memorabilia and question a host of dubious characters, including down-on-his-luck pornographer and biographer Thomas Ritter. More corpses turn up amid hefty doses of sexual intrigue. Readers need to pay close attention to this solidly plotted and densely populated drama full of red herrings, lest they miss key clues. (Jan.) - Publishers Weekly 01/01/2015 Neuhaus's newest entry in the German police procedural series (Snow White Must Die; Bad Wolf) featuring Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver Bodenstein is loaded with deception and tangled familial webs that span decades. The story begins with the murder of a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor who was shot in the head and with the number 11645 written in the victim's blood. As Kirchhoff and Bodenstein investigate, their work comes abruptly to a halt when the victim's family takes the case out of their hands. Two more murders of World War II survivors that involve the same killing method and number occur shortly thereafter. Digging deeper, the duo find shocking clues that suggest that each of these victims is not actually a survivor but a perpetrator of Nazi war crimes. The only other connection is their lifelong friendship with the head of a rich and well-respected local family. VERDICT Lies and revenge are the driving forces of this intelligent mystery. Neuhaus manages a large cast of characters while skillfully executing plot twists. Newcomers to this series will have no problem jumping in with this book and will likely be interested in reading more. [See Prepub Alert, 7/28/14.]--Madeline Dahlman, Deerfield P.L., IL - Library Journal
Publication Details
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Author(s):
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Binding: Paperback
Published by: St. Martin's Publishing Group: , 2017
Edition:
ISBN: 9781250081308 | 1250081300
368 pages.
Book Condition: Very Good
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