Book #29: Cold as Ice (Whitney Book #10)

Title: Cold as Ice
Author: Stephanie Black

I wasn't a huge fan of Stephanie Black's Methods of Madness in the Whitney competition last year, so I'll admit that I didn't have super high hopes for Cold as Ice. Last year, I was disappointed that the characters were flat, the Mormons were good, and the non-Mormons were bad. In Cold as Ice, I was encouraged to see more complicated characters, both Mormon and non. Derek and Abigail are brother and sister living in a resort town in upstate New York. Derek is trying to put his life back together after committing the unpardonable sins (at least in the eyes of his parents) of living with his girlfriend and arriving at his grandmother's funeral drunk. Now in his mid-twenties, he's on his way to starting his own business, but still hasn't figured out some of the basics-- like paying his rent on time. Abigail, thirty and unmarried, worries about her brother and her parents and her business, and tends to meddle more she should for her emotional health.

When Derek's landlord shows up dead, Derek becomes the prime suspect. He insists he's not guilty, but he acts guilty, and all the evidence points to him. Only Abigail believes in him, even when it might be in her best interest not to believe, and sets out to figure out who really did it. Black does a good job of creating suspense in Cold as Ice. Even 40 pages before the last chapter, there were at least four guys who I thought could be the real killer. I also felt like she did a good job with the setting, except I think she may overestimate the number of thirtysomething, employed, handsome, single LDS guys in upstate New York.


All in all, I enjoyed Cold as Ice. I liked seeing Derek and Abigail's proud, unforgiving, and very Mormon parents, who also had their good qualities, mixed in with other complicated characters. I also liked that although there was an element of romance in Cold as Ice, it didn't derail the mystery.