The Ice Queen: A Novel: 3 (Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein, 3)

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

"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 Von 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. He has written interesting characters and the plot, while a bit convoluted, holds together nicely. Curiously, he 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.

Pia Kirchoff and Oliver Von Bodenstein begin by investigating the murder of an old Jew, but soon find themselves with more than they had bargained for. As one murder follows another, the discovery that the original victim was not a Jew but a member of Hitler's SS squad, points to a long, forgotten story in the final days of the Third Reich. As the old, deadly secrets are eventually exposed, danger lurks on every corner. An amazing storyline linking the present with the past, which I found very satisfying. Fortunately, there were a lot less acronyms on this one.

This is one of the better Scandinavian detective novela

Intriguing mystery. Very enjoyable

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.