The Ice House

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Description

With this stunning debut-a marvellous marriage of classic convention and contemporary sophistication-Minette Walters sets a new standard of excellence for the mystery novel.The three women living in seclusion at an elegant Hampshire country house have long been fodder for village gossip...even whispers of a witches' coven. So when a faceless corpse of uncertain vintage is found in the Streech Grange ice house, Chief Inspector Walsh can't wait to make a case of it.Lady of the manor Phoebe Maybury, still haunted by Walsh's relentless investigation of her husband's strange disappearance ten years ago, is calm. She and her two housemates--sensitive, charming artist Diana Goode and pretty, earthy Anne Cattrell--seem as puzzled as the police. But do they have something to hideWhile Walsh strives to nail Phoebe for murder, sexy young Detective Sergeant McLoughlin turns his attention to the exasperating and magnetic Anne. Soon his inquiry and his impulses will draw him into a tangled thicket of love, loyalty, and deadly intrigue.

Reviews

The most impressive first novel in years. * Daily Telegraph *
A seductive writer with an imagination that makes her dangerous to know. * Sunday Express *
Terrific first novel with a high Rendellesque frisson count. * The Times *

Author Bio

Minette Walters has been described as the Queen of British Crime Fiction and her work has been translated into 26 languages. Her first novel, The Ice House, won the CWA John Creasey Award in 1992 and The Sculptress won the Edgar Allan Poe Award. Television rights have been sold in her first five books and the sixth is currently in production. She lives with her husband and two children in Dorset.