ICE BLUE

5 stars out of 5

Who needs to search the Internet when other folks know the kind of thing you love to read? In this case, I'll give a big shout-out to my cousin Rhonda for recommending this six-book series. The description won me over immediately, and as luck would have it, this one - the first - was available at a price I couldn't resist: Free. The same day I downloaded it, somewhat bored with the free-for-review book I was reading at the time, I opened it on another Kindle. And guess what? For the first time in a while, I polished off an entire book in one day. It helps that's it's relatively short as books go - just 240 pages - but I have no doubt I'd have kept at it no matter what the length. What's more, within an hour of finishing, I downloaded the next two.

In the beginning, the stars of the show, Lord and Lady Hetheridge, aren't quite there yet. Well, Lord Anthony is - he's the Baron of Wellegrave and chief superintendent of the New Scotland Yard. Detective Sergeant Kate Wakefield - who, given what happens in this book and the series description, at some point will become Lady Hetheridge - works for him. Clearly, she's fiesty; just as clearly, he's smitten. But aside from some cheeky comments that belie the classification of this series as "cozy," they both focus on treating each other professionally and solving a murder.

The dead man, gruesomely killed with a fireplace poker, is the husband of a woman once known rather well by the good Lord; from all accounts, he was a nasty sort and no one - not even his wife and daughter - are sorry he's no longer around. Still, it's a murder; so Hetheridge (known less formally as Tony), Kate and her wonderfully entertaining partner Paul Bhar set out to follow the meager clues and interview all who were at the disastrous dinner party earlier on the evening of the murder.

Throughout, Tony grapples with his newfound attraction to Kate, who's half his age (as the book begins, he's about to turn 60). He's far from prudish, but a bit on the reserved side; Kate, not so much. As cozy mystery heroines go, she's a breath of fresh air. She's brash, but sensible - she doesn't second-guess her every move or make truly stupid moves like trying to escape a captor by running toward a dark alley rather than a crowded, well-lit store. Her candor - and insistence on speaking her mind no matter what - are her stock in trade, although those qualities are less appreciated by the Scotland Yard muckety-mucks to whom Tony answers.

You won't learn further details from me, except to say that the case gets solved amid a few wrong turns on the team's part and edge-of-seat experiences for readers (well, me, at least). There's plenty of fodder left for the next book, (which, Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'll start within the next day or two). Like this one, I expect it will be absolutely delightful! 

Ice Blue by Emma Jameson (Lyonnesse Books, March 2011); 240 pp.