The Ice Killer

DI Barton, Book 3

By: Ross Greenwood

Narrated by: David Thorpe

Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Once, her heart was empty. Now it's filled with ice....

Ellen's therapist told her to forget the past, but the life she’s left with is boring. All she wants is to be happy and normal, but the approaching long, bleak nights of winter loom heavy before her, especially as she'll be alone.

But when the secrets her mother put in place to protect her are exposed, Ellen learns the frightening truth. Her history is darker than she imagined. She's not who she thinks she is, and the real her is a very different person to the one whom others have mistreated and exploited.

If there's hope of a future, Ellen must find answers about the past, and the new Ellen is less forgiving. This winter, there will be more than just discontent, and DI Barton will struggle in his hardest case to date.

How can he find the truth when all the victims and witnesses are dead?

Ross Greenwood writes gritty, heart-pounding thrillers, with twists aplenty and unforgettable endings. Perfect for fans of Mark Billingham and Stuart MacBride.

©2020 Ross Greenwood (P)2020 Boldwood Books

callous and cold

An intriguing story, dark and unnerving. We may never know the inner thoughts and feelings of another human being. Brilliant story line and real characters that could live right next door ummm?

Icy good!

I have really enjoyed the DI Barton books! Really likable characters and well written mysteries! The narrator is truly excellent!

Great series

First, I think David Thorpe does an excellent job narrating the story. His changing of his voice for the various characters make the story easy to follow. Curious how he keeps all the characters straight.

The story itself is well thought out. I like the was Mr. Greenwood creates some very bad killer while at the same time characterizes the victims as people that deserve to be punished.

TW: several unexpected rape scenes

After enjoying the two previous books, I felt I knew the pattern of the writing: In between cozy British murder series (heh) and genuine police drama.

However, I was surprised this one begins with a gang rape scene and has another of questionable consent before I needed to stop. dnf

I think if this one did as the two previous books did and delved into why and how the lives of the killers shaped them, it might have a different tone.

But this 'villain' seems to have such a crippling mental illness that she's not even processing her assault, except to murder and move on in life, seeming more concerned that her friend has 7 acres of land, than the fact she has been assaulted.

As the book explores her life it becomes clear she desperately needs assistance and you lose track of her going around murdering, because you just want her to get help.

Her reasoning behind her deeds is also clouded by her complete alternative reality that I hope this ends with her obtaining treatment.... and maybe just one single person in her corner. Holy crap this was a sad story

Thumbs up

This was best book yet! The characters have been built in books 1 & 2, which helped this book rock. This book flowed more for me because it was all based around the killings and detective work. We know the characters and now can dive into the crime cases. We’ll done

Overall enjoyable

This review is a bit more complex than most as I enjoyed it as a whole, but I also struggled quite a bit at the start.

The audiobook has a male narration and I struggled at the beginning of the book attempting to figure out if the main character was male, female, or if the author was making an attempting at a transgender reference even. This was frustrating for some time until the matter was made clear.

A few other vagueness in the writing were off-putting as well, but the storyline took off and minimized any further trivial writing frustrations I encountered, leaving me to enjoy the chase. It was a unique crime and perspective. I find that rare in books.

Recommended 👍
📚 📚📚📚

Very good story once you get used to the narration

UPDATE: A few months later, and I decided to give this one another shot. I'm actually glad I did. Still don't love the narrator's interpretation of most of the characters, but he did seem to improve as the story progressed, and especially as more characters were brought into the picture. The story is compelling, and kept my interest. It's actually quite cleverly put together, and had me on my toes all the way up to the end.

I'd encourage anybody who's looking for a fun and thought-provoking mystery to stick with it if the narrator is off-putting. Once I was fully engaged in the story, and had adjusted to the narrator, I found it very worthwhile. It may have taken a few chapters, but I was eventually hooked, and glad I had endured.


ORIGINAL REVIEW: Wrong narrator. Couldn’t stand to listen. Just has an odd, stilted reading style. Might be ok for done other material, but by the second chapter, he was just grating on my nerves. Stuck with it to chapter four, but finally had to quit. Not en enjoyable listen. (My story rating reflects the fact that I’ve really no idea whether the story is actually good or bad.)

from both sides

I like it when a book tells the story from both sides. I get to practice the art of non judgment. There is always many sides to a story, and the True is never black and white.

The team is great

I love this series , it is so good and made all the better by the wonderful narrator! I truly feel sad as I see the time ticking away toward the end
Speaking of ends…….loved this one

A Good killer Read

This was book 3 in the "DI Barton" This was a really good read and the best book in this series. This book was written with dual pov it alters between Ellen and Barton and I liked that it added to the story too me. I felt bad for Ellen her life hasn’t been the easiest of ones and past events have left her extremely scarred. Barton is promoted to Detective Chief Inspector, as his current DCI goes on maternity leave. This was a really good read that had me on edge as I read and listened to this book on audio. This case had a different feel to it than the other cases in this series. I loved how Barton and his team interacted with each other. This book was well written with no errors w grammar or spelling. I am looking forward to reading or listening to the next book in this series.