“A fast-paced noir thriller. The Ice Maiden deserves a spot at or near the top of your reading list.” –Best ThrillersA serial killer is abducting, torturing, and murdering young women in a small community in central Maine. Seeming to select his victims at random, he acts out the rituals of the Spanish Inquisition before committing their bodies to the sacred waters of nearby Sebec Lake. Anne … sacred waters of nearby Sebec Lake. Anne Quinn, an investigator for the Piscataquis County sheriff’s office, and Detective Douglas Bateman with the Major Crimes Unit of the Maine State Police join forces in tracking him down. Hiding in plain sight, the killer is clearly from the local community and plays a deadly “catch me if you can” game with Quinn and Bateman. He seems determined to humiliate them and demonstrate his superior intellect, leading them to suspect that perhaps there is a deeper motive and purpose behind his string of murders.
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WOW!! Mind Blown! This is an amazingly twisted, keep you on the edge of your seat, Crime Fiction Novel! Definitely not for the faint of heart. Absolutely loved the setting for this Novel. The East Coast for me, has always held mystery and wonderment for me. Most definitely a Must Read!!
The story told more than I like about the actual killing and the suffering of the victims. Story other than that was good and enjoyable. I like to try to figure out who the killer is before unmasked. Unfortunately, authors are too good at masking because I never get it right.
That was scary, intense, and suspenseful! I really enjoyed this book even though the story did drag on at times, a bit too descriptive. There was an interesting history lesson included and it had interesting characters. The murders were brutal, imaginative, and sick, which had me holding my breath. I look forward to reading more from this author.
Good reading, suspenseful.
Good book, sucks you in
Sadistic serial killer in depth. Haunted me for days. Still have to be cautious about remembering details of truly horrible murders, they tend to get stuck in my mind.
Lots of original twists.
I suppose the book is relatively well written, however I’m just not in thh by e mood for the grisly murder it opens with.
This book is about a killer who is a religious fanatic who uses medeval torture techniques to kill his victims.
Entertaining to a degree. Slow moving and I found myself skipping parts to get it moving faster.
The Ice Maiden was a tragic tale of a vicious serial killer wreaking havoc on women in a small lakeside community. You never knew what would happen next so it definitely kept my interest. I love a good thrill ride & this book kept me buckled in for a long and suspenseful ride the whole way through it!
This book was full of suspense. The ending was a surprise to me. It kept my interest throughout the whole book. Great read!
After reading some of the reviews for this book, I wasn’t sure it was for me. I decided to try it and was pleasantly surprised. While the discussion of the various types of torture perpetrated on the victims was detailed, I didn’t feel that it was particularly gruesome. I thought the detective work leading to the bad guy was thorough and clearly detailed. Enjoyed this book more than I thought I might.
In “The Ice Maiden” by B.D. Smith, readers are taken to Sebec Lake in the state of Maine, just across from the Canadian border. We meet a couple preparing to go ice fishing who discover a frozen body just beneath the ice. All they could see were the remains of legs and a red fox which has been chewing on them. Detective Douglas Bateman of the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit is called to the scene by the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office and after the body is removed from the ice, begins the search for the identity of the dead, badly mutilated young woman. Doug is accompanied on his search by Anne Quinn, an Investigator with the county sheriff’s office, the Sheriff George McCormick and other officers from that same department as well as Tom’s partner, Detective Tom Richard, who had been assigned to desk duty for an incident in which he was accused of beating a suspected child pornographer. Tom assists Doug and Anne by using his computer skills and investigating whatever he can by searching various websites. We learn that Doug and Anne have just met and she is new to the Sebec Lake area, coming from a similar location in Michigan. The officers from the sheriff’s department search the area and the surrounding rental cabins, most of which are empty until summer residents come back to Sebec Lake, and find a brown robe and no other clues. The murderer knew there were webcams on some of the cottages and chose a particular fishing hole on the ice that would be seen and recorded by one of the webcams. The killer taunts Doug and Anne, trying to humiliate them and prove that he is far more intelligent than they are. We know he watches as the body is found and retrieved and hear his words, repeating quotes from the Bible, saying that the young woman was lost but now he has saved her. Then another young woman’s body is found in a house that has been burned down. Her autopsy shows that she has also been beaten and mutilated. Readers again realize that the murderer is watching this woman’s body being found and removed. The author, B. D. Smith then introduces us to an arrogant millionaire, David Abernathy, who has been found watching both crime scenes, saying he is always interested in such crimes. We wonder if this man is the sadistic murderer. When a third body of a young woman is found under the ice in another location, the police and the readers realize that we are involved with a serial killer. B. D. Smith totally involves readers of “The Ice Maiden” in all three murders, expecting that there will be even more, and has them trying to solve the crimes along with Doug, Anne and the rest of the police. I highly recommend this book to all lovers of mystery.
Good ending, good discription book
There were several twists and turns. It was difficult to read at times because of some explicit descriptions of Middle Ages religious punishments, but it was a learning experience.
Has plenty of twists and turns. Can not guess who the suspect is. Keeps you guessing.
This was a perfectly adequate crime mystery in terms of plot. The author is excessively descriptive throughout, at the expense of character development and conversations. This heavy description also applies to the brutality toward the female victims. There was no real development of the bad guy to offer any foreshadowing so, while not a total surprise, it did feel a little too neatly wrapped up.
This was a well written mystery book, although there were a few loose ends which were wrapped up quickly & a little too neatly. The author made me care about the characters and kept me guessing until the end. If you tend to be squeamish in any way, this may not be a book for you as the autopsy reports were in-depth and quite detailed.
A great book very to the point as its setting in rural Maine as I live here and have hunted or snowmobiled in this area. I also are familiar with the police county and state. So its was a very interesting read.