The Well of Ice is the third and latest entry in Andrea Carter’s Inishowen series.   In it, Carter returns to the same small town, Glendara; and the same cast of characters, including solicitor Benedicta “Ben” O’Keefe and Sergeant Molloy; that have made the first two books so enjoyable.   And although Glendara is fictional, it’s located on the very real far northern Inishowen peninsula of Ireland, and Carter’s descriptions of the peninsula, even in December with cold and wind and ice and snow, make Inishowen seem like part of the story itself.  

I really enjoyed this book.   The plot has a couple of main threads.  One is built around the release from prison of the man who killed Ben’s sister, who now may be coming after her.   The other is built around a mysterious pub fire and missing barmaid in Glendara.   And eventually, of course, there’s a dead body.   I don’t want to indulge in spoilers, so I’m not going to say whether these threads all dovetail nicely or get solved separately, but Carter brings almost everything to a satisfactory resolution.   (See below for the one thing I think isn’t…)   

My only minor complaint is around Ben’s relationship with Molloy, which is less assured and more stressful than I’d like it to be in a book I’m reading for fun.   I do understand that I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to try to start a new relationship given Ben’s past history with a murdered sister and with that sister’s killer still around.   Even without that kind of stress, relationships can have tough patches, especially when exes are around.  And I also know it’s probably shallow of me to want things to go more smoothly on the romantic front, but that is how I feel.   Still, this is not a major complaint for me, and I still very much liked the book.    

And for one final note, I think my biggest smile while reading the book came when I read that Ben’s parents were going to plan a vacation trip for the Christmas holidays.   I immediately started imagining trips to sunny warm southern climes, only to find out that they were going to Iceland (!?!?!) during December.   So much for preconceptions!

Please keep in mind that I only give a very very few books, maybe 1 in 30 or 40 books that I read, a 5 star rating.   (I try to fight star-flation a little bit…)   So four stars is a really solid recommendation from me for a book.   And I’m very much looking forward to the next title appearing the US – it is already out in the UK, so hopefully it won’t be too long!

I wish I would learn to read the first book in a series instead of always being permanently late to the party, and having to play catch up. There were a lot of characters in this book so I had to keep my wits about me.I love the feel of a small town though with all the interesting characters to be found. The story was good too, and it was a good book to read.

A cold—and terrifying—Christmas holiday on the Inishowen Peninsula

December on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal—and solicitor Benedicta “Ben” O'Keeffe is working flat out before the Christmas holidays. While on a trip to Dublin to visit her parents, she runs into Luke Kirby—the man who killed her sister—freshly released from jail. On the surface he appears remorseful, conciliatory even, but his comment as she walks away makes her realize he is as evil as ever.

I loved this book.  The author is new to me so I plan to look up the series and read them in order. 
I will recommend them. Thanks to Netgalley and Oceanview for the ARC. 

4 star

The Well of Ice is the 3rd book of the Inishowen Mystery series. I found it as engrossing and satisfying as the first two books. The main character is Ben, a solicitor in a small Irish town. She is smart, likable and has a strong sense of seeking the truth, which makes her seem very much like a modern-day and very gown up Nancy Drew. Yes, the setting is in current times, meaning everyone has a cell phone, but there is still the quaint, small-town, slow-paced atmosphere of a seaside Irish community. Well, slower-paced for everyone except Ben, who seems to ping-pong from meeting to meeting (and clue to clue) at a dizzying speed. 

The plot revolves around a fire that destroys a beloved pub in the wee hours of the morning, and the untimely disappearance of the pub’s employee who worked to closing hours before the fire broke out. There are several different story-lines which are woven expertly through the book. It was fun to make each new discovery as different characters reveal secrets of the past and present to Ben. She seems to be the only person who has most of the pieces, but still cannot put them all together until it is almost too late. The story progresses at a good pace while providing a wonderful sense of setting. This is a winter tale and the unforgiving cold, wet, icy, snowy and windy weather was often part of the reader’s experience.

Character development was good, although I did get confused at times regarding relationships due to trying to figure out the relative ages of some characters. Several new characters are introduced and the reader learns more about some of the town’s locals who are recurring in the series. In this 3rd book of the series, some of Ben’s long-standing personal challenges get resolved, but new changes in her life have surfaced. I look forward to reading more of the Inishowen Mystery series to see where the author takes this character. And of course, what the next mystery will be.

This is an unbiased review of an ARC received from NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

murder
arson
threatening behaviour

well who would want to live in a village with all this going on...but to be fair its only one person who it could be but its proving it....and the reasons why.... and that is the problem or is it something else entirely...

with plenty of red herrings and a multitude of suspects this one does tend to follow on the miss marple style of things...so its not to taxing though getting your head around the characters is another matter, but once you know who they are and what their jobs are it gets easier....

an enjoyable read on a sunday afternoon

This is Book 3 of the author's Inishowen mystery series, and the first for me. And I must say that overall, I enjoyed it thoroughly. If I have to get nitpicky, I'll say the number of characters was a bit overwhelming, but once I got into the swing of things I managed to keep the important ones straight.

The star of the show is Benedicta "Ben" O'Keeffe, a solicitor in Glendara, Inishowen, who's desperately trying to clear her calendar for the upcoming Christmas holidays. But instead of seeing bows, boxes and warm hugs from her family and friends, she runs smack dab into the man who murdered her sister Faye. He's just been released from jail, and instead of heading for other parts as she expected, he's right on her doorstep. Long ago, she and he were an item - until he dumped her for her sister and then, well, you know. 

Ben has a relatively new main squeeze, a sergeant with the local police - although their relationship seemed to me to be tenuous at best (anyone who wants to keep a relationship "in the closet" says to me no relationship exists). But they're working at it, sort of, when things in the small community start to go horribly wrong. It starts when a popular pub burns to the ground - a possible arson - and the suspicious disappearance of the pub's barmaid. Then, when Ben and her lover, Tom Molloy, hike to Sliabh Sneacht to see the Well of Eyes, her foot slips in and she dubs it the "Well of Ice." Alas, that's not their only find; the other is the body of a dead female.

Needless to say, Ben has her suspicions that her sister's killer may be involved somehow. But is that simply what she wants to believe because she [understandably] hates him so much? What roles, if any, do the dead woman's husband or the pub owner play? As the plot progresses, it becomes clear that maybe Ben herself is in danger. If that's true, can her boyfriend protect her while he's trying to solve the murder? 

Well, you'll just have to read it to find out - and it's worth the effort. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for giving me a pre-release copy to read and review.

My only regret is that I left this book too long on my TBR pile. Fantastically created atmosphere of a small village, in the middle of winter, with a mysterious arsonist on the loose and a killer to boot. i hope there are more in this series!

Thanks to Oceanview Publishing for providing me a copy of this book for this honest review.

Although originally published in 2017, Oceanview Publishing is releasing this third book in Andrea Carter’s Inishowen Mystery series for the US in 2020.  Benedicta “Ben” O’Keefe works as a solicitor in the Inishowen area of County Donegal, although she’s originally from Dublin, where her parents still live.  While visiting them just before Christmas, she sees the man who killed her sister. Apparently, he was recently released from prison after completing his sentence.  Her testimony was key to his sentence, so she’s concerned he’s out for revenge.  She becomes even more concerned when he later shows up in the Inishowen area.  

Other mysterious events occur back home in Glendara where Ben works and lives. A woman goes missing soon after the pub where she worked is burned down.  Ben also finds a dead body in the snow while walking the dog with her somewhat secret love interest, Sergeant Tom Molloy.  Ben eventually thinks everything is related to her sister’s murderer, but others must somehow be involved.

The book spends a lot of time on the backstory of several characters which both adds and subtracts to the book.  I enjoyed reading about the characters and seeing how or if the love interest between Ben and Tom would progress, but at times, it slowed the book.  I wasn’t pulled into the story that much and as a result it took me a lot longer to finish than it typically would.

This book is characterized as a cozy which mostly means less graphic violence than some crime fiction books which I read more often.  Cozy books come in all varieties, including some types I would never read (cat detectives, really?), but this is a realistic and sometimes dark book, with the violence mostly discovered (e.g., a dead body) and not experienced (the actual murder).  I certainly enjoyed reading the crime solving of solicitor Ben O’Keefe, who sometimes does what she shouldn’t but that’s what amateurs do, (and even some professional private detectives), to make for a more interesting (and hopefully not cringe-worthy) story. Well done here.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author.  Although I’m sure I missed some references to earlier books, I never felt lost or confused. The book did seem to have many back stories about several of the characters that I’m sure would have added a little more color to the book, but the author presented these characters in a way that gave the reader the key information.

The Donegal setting was the main reason I decided to read this book. One of my great grandparents is from there and I’ve spent a few days in County Donegal both in 2016 and in 2019, including a night in the Inishowen Gateway hotel in the summer of 2019.  Of course, many of the places in the book are fictional so I didn’t recognize as much local color as I may have.  I’ll always enjoy reading about Ireland.

this was a really good mystery novel, the characters were great and I really enjoyed trying to solve the mystery. I look forward to more from the author.

Ok read. The settings are realistic and the plot line is well thought out.  I found the characters somewhat uninvolving but I think that the shortcomings are attributable to me rather than the author.

This isn’t my typical read. I generally don’t do thrillers and never books set outside of the US. This was a good read. It kept my interest and intrigued throughout. I would recommend it

An interesting story set in a beautiful part of Ireland. An intriguing read with loads of characters and suspense.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

An excellent story, very well written and with a very interesting main character. The plot is good, but everything is a little too slow, and there are lots of characters to keep track of.

Benedicta "Ben" O'Keeffe is a solicitor in a small Irish village in County Donegal. The story is set right before Christmas, and everyone in the village is shocked when the local pub burns to the ground. Was it arson? If so, who was responsible? And then there is a murder, which is unnerving enough, but Ben has a nasty surprise when the man who killed her sister is released from prison and comes to town to taunt her. I really enjoyed this new series, and will definitely look for more books by this author. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a well written mystery with good suspense.  The characters were well developed and the
storyline  flowed smoothly.  This is a book which I would recommend to others.

Thank you so much, Oceanview Publishing for my e-arc

A story set in a small town with complex characters and intriguing plot makes a very fascinating read. It kept me guessing from start to finish. If you’re into evocative and exhilarating story, this book is for you!

Holiday Season Fast Approaching....
Book three in the Inishowen Mystery series sees the holiday season fast approaching. An enjoyable, nicely plotted mystery with credible characters and a likeable protagonist in Ben. Atmosphere keeps pace throughout with a good sense of place. A worthy addition to the series.

This story takes place in the cold winter in Northern Ireland.  It is wonderfully atmospheric. This is a good story and the characters are relatable.  I am looking forward to the next in the series.

totally loved this one - it's part of a series about 'Ben' a lawyer - in this one conducting an illicit relationship with local cop - which everyone really does know about - and a well-depicted and conflicted barmaid - disappearances of crucial figures, and a mysterious arson attack - but the wonderful strong aspect are the characters - hints of previous escapades and events in Ben's life for example are going to make me find that first one where her sister dies - the killer by the way is out of prison in this one (it was deemed manslaughter I gather) - and that figures in too - really wonderful - I've read others of hers outside this series, but i'm glad to have come across this. excellent ... great read ...

The Well of Ice
“A cold—and terrifying—Christmas holiday on the Inishowen Peninsula.”

REVIEW ALERT!!

Thank you to Oceanview and NetGalley for this opportunity to read and review this book! This book will be released in November, so add it to your wishlist!!

This was a really good read. I finished this book in 2 days :) I had a hard time putting it down! I’m giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

This story follows Ben. She is a solicitor who lives in the beautiful Inishowen in Donegal. She is secretly dating the sergeant Molloy. On a trip to visit her parents, Ben runs in to what seems like an ex, who was just released from a ten year sentence after he was convicted of killing her sister Faye.  Things start to unravel from there.  In the town you meet so many different amazing characters from Abby and Ian to Maeve and Stan and Leah and Phyllis and Tony and Suzanne and Rosison and Carole. Everyone plays a major role in this story. Back in town, an explosion at the local pub where Carole works, explodes. After investigation they are convinced it was arson.  Carole has now gone missing and everyone is convinced she started the fire, or something terrible happened to her. Ben starts to investigate herself and finds out some startling clues that tie everyone together. Then Caroles body is found. Ben and Molloy will spend the rest of the book putting the puzzle pieces together until they solve the mystery. I sort of expected who the “bad guy” was, because it was pretty obvious, but it still kept you guessing and on your toes! I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes a small town thriller!!