Thin Ice by Quentin Bates. Blog tour Review.

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Publication Date: Available Now from Constable..

Source: Review copy

Snowed in with a couple of psychopaths for the winter…

When two small-time crooks rob Reykjavik’s premier drugs dealer, hoping for a quick escape to the sun, their plans start to unravel after their getaway driver fails to show. Tensions mount between the pair and the two women they have grabbed as hostages when they find themselves holed upcountry in an isolated hotel that has been mothballed for the season.

Back in the capital, Gunnhildur, Eiríkur and Helgi find themselves at a dead end investigating what appear to be the unrelated disappearance of a mother, her daughter and their car during a day’s shopping, and the death of a thief in a house fire.

Gunna and her team are faced with a set of riddles but as more people are quizzed it begins to emerge that all these unrelated incidents are in fact linked. And at the same time, two increasingly desperate lowlifes have no choice but to make some big decisions on how to get rid of their accidental hostages…

My first Quentin Bates book (will definitely not be my last) is book 5 in a series but can easily be read as a standalone and it is a novel I thoroughly enjoyed. Chilling in more ways than one and beautifully written, the author wracks up the tension in a way that I always get very involved in and provides us with some top notch characters that are highly intriguing.

It is very Christie in atmosphere, particularly the locked in setting of the hotel, the claustrophobic sense of something bad approaching, the characters developing in a fascinating way that allows you to think about what might happen -although the author is cleverly surprising and often unexpected.

The plot construction is sublime, the parts coming together to create a whole picture, Thin Ice is one of those books you live within when reading it, a quality story addictive and fun to absorb. Quentin Bates has a great eye for characters, they are utterly realistic and entirely believable. Plus Ossi. Brilliant. One of those characters you can’t help warming to despite his, erm, not so nice tendencies.

Overall a really really good read. One that comes Highly Recommended from me. My one complaint is that now I’ve had to add 4 more books to my “To be read” pile at a time when that pile threatens to topple over and kill me off. But hey, it would be a heck of a way to go!

If you love crime and appreciate a darn good yarn Thin Ice is for you!

 

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2 Responses to Thin Ice by Quentin Bates. Blog tour Review.

  1. crimeworm says:

    I’m surprised you liked Is so – he’s horrid (although I haven’t read it all!) It’s Magni I like – poor soul, cleaning up all Ossi’ s messes and basically doing everything. I have a feeling a female may be leading him on and planning her own departure…but I could be totally wrong! It is wonderful – I’m about halfway through – now I’m off to read some more! xx

  2. crimeworm says:

    I mean Ossi – damn predictive text! Could you fix it Liz please my dear? Many thanks!

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