Title: Beneath The Ice
Author: C. M. Weaver
Publisher: Gold Touch Press
ISBN: 978-1954673984
Pages: 270
Genre: Fiction / Crime / Mystery
Reviewed by: Jake Bishop
Hollywood Book Reviews
The chill in the air isn’t just the cold Minnesota weather in this intriguing crime novel from author C. M. Weaver. Sometimes it’s the icy reception that the female detective protagonist gets from her misogynistic superior. Other times it’s the feeling that comes over her when mental visions start to insert themselves into both her waking and sleeping hours. And sometimes, it’s the stone cold fear that comes over her when she thinks she’s going to have to go back onto the frozen lake that holds terrifying memories from her past.
Andrea is a smart, insightful, well-trained detective. She does her job well. Her female coworkers like her. Some of her male coworkers do too, but most are afraid to show it because their boss, Steve, obviously doesn’t. He’s jealous of her capabilities and secretly concerned that others may realize she has a lot more on the ball than he does. So Steve is constantly giving her menial tasks and making snide comments about her and her retired cop father’s apparent link to ESP or psychic abilities.
One day Andrea is near her town’s lake when huge blocks of ice, being harvested for an annual ice sculpture, start to surface with human body parts embedded in them. Also on the scene is Fletcher, an FBI operative new to the area. Since they were both there when the human remains were discovered, Andrea’s boss is forced to involve them in the case. They’re soon running down leads and turning up clues that far surpass the work of Andrea’s cohorts. So much so that media scrutiny begins to focus as much on Andrea as it does on the case itself. And as bodies continue to be found, Andrea’s and Fletcher’s relationship begins to take on more seriousness than she initially feels comfortable with.
Author Weaver spins an involving narrative chock full of interesting police procedures and fascinating psychic episodes. She develops characters whose idiosyncrasies make it easy for readers to like or dislike them. An air of authenticity is achieved as the authorities go about the painstaking work of connecting missing persons to potential murder victims. And while the manhunt for a potential killer doesn’t stop, Weaver manages to keep the personal interactions of the key players suspenseful as well.
Will Steve succeed in keeping Andrea out of the limelight? Will Fletcher’s personal attraction to Andrea be reciprocated or rebuffed? Will Andrea’s and her father’s special gifts turn out to be a blessing or a curse? And of course, will the case be solved? To find out, get comfortable, hold your breath, and take a deep dive Beneath The Ice.