The Ice Princess
Summary: When the remote, beautiful Alex Wijkner is found dead of an apparent suicide in the sleepy fishing village of Fjällbacka, Sweden her childhood friend Erica Falck is shaken to the core. Erica and Alex haven’t spoken in years, but now Erica, back in her hometown after the deaths of her parents, finds herself haunted by their shared past, their lost friendship, and the suspicion that something isn’t quite right about Alex’s death.
Joining forces with local detective Patrik Hedström, Erica delves into the mystery of Alex’s death, peeling away layers of secrets to reveal the shocking, deeply disturbing past that reaches into the dark heart of Fjällbacka and threatens to tear aside its idyllic façade. http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ice-Princess/Camilla-Lackberg/9781451621747/reading_group_guide
Group Review/Comments:
11 thumbs up
First things first—our group has coined a new term. We are dubbing The Ice Princess a “Scandinavian cozy.” The Ice Princess contains many features of a traditional cozy (amateur detective paired with a police officer, romance, domestic scenes featuring a community of friends and family, small town setting, some humor) yet balances the typically light read with the dark grimness of a Scandinavian winter.
This is one of the few novels we’ve read this year that received thumbs up from all. Ok, yes-one thumbs up was a tentative thumbs up, but only because there has been a plethora of mysteries involving child abuse and this exasperated reader said, “enough!” Overall, The Ice Princess was thoroughly enjoyed.
Each month our group tries to remember to comment not only on the writing as we would for any book, but the crafting of the mystery as well. This particular book is one of the best this year when it comes to plotting and keeping the reader guessing. However, one criticism was the use of divulging that there was a clue discovered by either Patrick or Erika, but not revealing to the reader what was the clue. For those of us raised on the Golden Age of Mystery and the concept of fair play in mystery plots, this was a weakness. However, the use of multiple plot lines, past and present colliding, and the “evil is everywhere under the pretty surface” theme kept The Ice Princess in the company of traditional mysteries.
Also mentioned were the strong sense of place, the use of humor, the strong evocation of tragedy, and the realistic descriptions of domestic abuse. A few readers commented about the translation being a bit awkward in places, but that somehow this added to the charm. It read like the equivalent of hearing an accent. Finally, the coda at the end beautifully brought Arthur’s longings to fruition.
