The Ice House

by A.G. Barnett

A man stabbed inside a locked ice house. One door. No way out. The police call it impossible and walk away.

Nell Blackwood calls it a challenge.

Arriving at Braeburn Hall posing as a library assessor, Nell must unpick a household held together by lies — buried affairs, tangled loyalties, and a fraud hiding in plain sight for years. Secretly guided by Roderick Fane from his crumbling North Oxford study, she is learning that the most dangerous rooms aren't always the ones with locked doors.

Someone at Braeburn has killed before. Planned carefully. Waited patiently.

And now Nell is asking exactly the wrong questions.

The second Fane & Blackwood Mystery — an impossible crime in a house full of liars, set in 1920s Oxfordshire.

182 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2026

About the author

AG Barnett lives in Oxfordshire with his wife, daughter, three ridiculous spaniels, and four frizzle chickens.

Reviews

[dnsyl57 · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Ice House" is book #2 in the "Fane and Blackwell Mystery" by A. G. Barnett.

A locked room mystery at an estate has the police baffled in Oxfordshire, England in December 1925. Nell Blackwell sees this as a challenge. With the secret guidance of recluse, Roderick Fane, she travels to the estate under the cover of being a library assessor but finds the members of the household each keeping secrets and telling lies.

Six potential suspects - one of them was willing to kill to get what they wanted. They all had potential motives. Some had alibis - or did they?

The starkness of the setting, the cold and observations of the people that Nell takes note of, easily transports the reader back a hundred years. Forensics, fingerprints and the like were not yet available.

For me, there were only a couple of real suspects in the bunch. After a few more revelations about the residents and the surroundings, I had no doubt as to who was responsible. Gathering the proof was another matter. It was interesting to read how Nell reports events back to Fane and his responses. Even once the killer was identified there was still drama to come.

Overall, an entertaining historical cozy mystery.

[Escapades In Prose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read. A good palate cleanser

I love The Fane and Blackwood series. I really do. They are so clean, not a word out of place. They are not heavy with emotion, just the facts and what you observe. Exactly as Mr. Fane is teaching Miss Blackwood.

I tend to read very heavy, heart pounding books that make you question your emotional stability. So it is really refreshing reading this “locked room murder”.

Really well done

[Renette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved it. You know everything the characters, Fane and Nell know. Everything is presented in a very factual manner. No dressing it up. It is laid out there for you. The interaction between the characters, particularly Fane and his housekeeper, and Nell, and the housekeeper is priceless. Fane and Nell both see what others tend to dismiss. What a pair.

[Lisa T. Ungerer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing character

Nell starts to come into her own in this story. Fane helps, especially at the end, which is a bit tense. While some of the story is not believable, it is still a good yarn. Recommended

[Stephen Levesque · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally enjoyed it! This is a well written and has well developed characters. The story is catching and with the strong characters makes for a very enjoyable read. Great Reading Everyone!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

1920s. The body of Federick Wyndham, missing for several months is found on his estate's ice house, which is locked and the key inside. Fane becomes interested and sends Nell Blackwood to investigate at Braeburn Hall.
An entertaining historical mystery