The Ice Beneath Her: A Novel

...but the book threw me a life raft about 3/4 of the way through, so somewhat time well spent. The book earned three stars because it ultimately turned out to be a pretty good mystery. However, the story plodded along for quite a while.

There are three main characters: Peter the detective, Hannah the "profiler" and Emma, the scorned lover. I thought the detective was a jerk, full stop. The profiler- well, she doesn't have much of a role in the criminal investigation at all, but her sad personal life is a focus. Emma's character grew on me as we learned more (in excruciating detail) about her background. The police detectives left me wondering where their heads were the whole time, as some basic investigative techniques were left out. Hannah was the only smart one, and the author would have been well advised to un-stereotype her and make her an effective character. The only character I really enjoyed was Olga, Emma's coworker in a retail clothing store. She had some backbone. The other female characters really weren't written well.

Here are some quotes so you can get a feeling for the writing:
"You should be suspicious of strange men who come knocking on your door in the middle of the night, and even more suspicious if they're not strangers."
"You could kill yourself, or you could have a beer."
"Love and beauty are transient; the shit is eternal."

There are many "striking revelations" and "deep thoughts" like this in the meandering minds of the main characters, and believe me you will hear them all if you make it through this book.

Not too highly recommended, but also not a complete waste of a credit.

It kept me guessing

You were never sure just who was the good guy and who was not.

I liked the cop

I really liked the plot twist at the end.

Such a slow, quiet book. I was caught up in it and wondering just where the mystery might be - when - wham, the author suddenly launched it. I am a fan of the Scandinavian mysteries. This book is just fine!