What do you think?
Rate this book
The Falls Mysteries #2
Where the Ice Falls
Lacey McCrae must bring closure to two grieving families while avoiding her past trauma.
When Zofia and her teenage daughter trip over an ice-covered corpse at a rented mountain chalet, ex-Mountie Lacey McCrae trades her Christmas shopping trip for Victim Services duty. While she supports the women through their police statements, the body is identified: Eric, a university student lost in a blizzard last month. Zofia believes Eric is trying to communicate urgently to her about his missing car. Skeptical as Lacey is of psychics, she knows the absent car and other details don’t add up to an accidental death.
As Christmas gives way to New Year’s, she must search the icy wilderness for another missing person. But Zofia blurts out Lacey’s deepest secret, shaking her to the core. Can she uncover truths for two grieving families while evading her own buried trauma?
When Zofia and her teenage daughter trip over an ice-covered corpse at a rented mountain chalet, ex-Mountie Lacey McCrae trades her Christmas shopping trip for Victim Services duty. While she supports the women through their police statements, the body is identified: Eric, a university student lost in a blizzard last month. Zofia believes Eric is trying to communicate urgently to her about his missing car. Skeptical as Lacey is of psychics, she knows the absent car and other details don’t add up to an accidental death.
As Christmas gives way to New Year’s, she must search the icy wilderness for another missing person. But Zofia blurts out Lacey’s deepest secret, shaking her to the core. Can she uncover truths for two grieving families while evading her own buried trauma?
409 pages, Paperback
Published September 3, 2019
11 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
J.E. Barnard
8 books23 followersJ.E. Barnard’s first novella (as Jayne Barnard), 'Maddie Hatter and the Deadly Diamond', was a 2016 Prix Aurora finalist. Her second Maddie Hatter Adventure, 'Gilded Gauge', was both a Prix Aurora finalist and 2018 Book of the Year for Alberta. 'When the Flood Falls' first in the Falls Mystery trilogy, won the Unhanged Arthur Ellis Award in 2016. She's hit bestseller lists 7 times with 6 novels, and divides her writing year between Calgary, AB with her cat & Vancouver Island with a resident owl.
To learn more about the newly re-edited and re-released Maddie Hatter Adventures, see
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
To learn more about the newly re-edited and re-released Maddie Hatter Adventures, see
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 22, 2019
J.E. Barnard continues to awe me with her poetic writing, her character development, her vivid descriptions of scenery, and, of course, the actual story.
The main plot concerns the death of Eric, a young man who was locked in the wood shed behind a chalet in the Rockies and left to freeze to death. As the story develops, we learn the likely motive for his death. Several characters are connected to that motive. It is up to Lacey, a former corporal in the RCMP, and Zoe, the woman whose daughter found the body in the shed, to uncover the evidence and close in on the perpetrator.
Zoe can see and hear Eric's ghost. Perhaps "can" is the wrong word, as she would prefer not to see Eric or hear his voice. She also experiences his longing to return to his home and family. Unfortunately, Eric doesn't recall his murder or know who did it, but he can steer Zoe to valuable clues.
The number of suspects grows, and, just when one thinks one knows who dunnit, clues suggest that yet another person could be the murderer.
While acting as a Victim Services Volunteer, Lacey becomes involved in solving Eric's death. She does her investigating so ably that I kept wishing that Lacey would return to the RCMP, in spite of the circumstances that caused her to quit.
Lacey is also looking after her injured friend Dee at Dee's house in Bragg Creek. Dee's mother and her mother's nurse visit Dee and Lacey for the Christmas season. The nurse's son lives in a nearby town, and she borrows Lacey's car to spend Christmas day with him. She fails to return as scheduled the next day. Did she take off voluntarily, did she get lost in a blizzard, or was she also a murder victim? If harm has befallen her, what is her connection to the murderer?
The suspense builds as the murderer and protagonists become locked in a deadly chain of events.
I would recommend reading "When the Flood Falls," book 1 in The Falls Mysteries before reading this book, mostly to become familiar with Lacey and Dee and thus better understand their current situation.
The main plot concerns the death of Eric, a young man who was locked in the wood shed behind a chalet in the Rockies and left to freeze to death. As the story develops, we learn the likely motive for his death. Several characters are connected to that motive. It is up to Lacey, a former corporal in the RCMP, and Zoe, the woman whose daughter found the body in the shed, to uncover the evidence and close in on the perpetrator.
Zoe can see and hear Eric's ghost. Perhaps "can" is the wrong word, as she would prefer not to see Eric or hear his voice. She also experiences his longing to return to his home and family. Unfortunately, Eric doesn't recall his murder or know who did it, but he can steer Zoe to valuable clues.
The number of suspects grows, and, just when one thinks one knows who dunnit, clues suggest that yet another person could be the murderer.
While acting as a Victim Services Volunteer, Lacey becomes involved in solving Eric's death. She does her investigating so ably that I kept wishing that Lacey would return to the RCMP, in spite of the circumstances that caused her to quit.
Lacey is also looking after her injured friend Dee at Dee's house in Bragg Creek. Dee's mother and her mother's nurse visit Dee and Lacey for the Christmas season. The nurse's son lives in a nearby town, and she borrows Lacey's car to spend Christmas day with him. She fails to return as scheduled the next day. Did she take off voluntarily, did she get lost in a blizzard, or was she also a murder victim? If harm has befallen her, what is her connection to the murderer?
The suspense builds as the murderer and protagonists become locked in a deadly chain of events.
I would recommend reading "When the Flood Falls," book 1 in The Falls Mysteries before reading this book, mostly to become familiar with Lacey and Dee and thus better understand their current situation.
August 11, 2019
In Where The Ice Falls, Zoe and her teenage daughter discover a frozen corpse at her boss’s mountain chalet, just as they’re about to start their Christmas holidays. The dead man is Eric, an intern at the oil company where Zoe works. Lacey is living with her friend Dee, who hopes to return to her role as successful real estate agent, after recuperating from an injury, by making a quick sale of the chalet during the festive season. The frozen body in the woodshed, however, complicates matters.
Although no longer a Mountie, Lacey has just completed her Victims Services training, and is asked to provide support to those affected by Eric’s death. Inconsistencies in the case point to murder, and Lacey starts investigating but the clock is ticking. Dee needs to sell the chalet before their joint finances get so dire that she has to sell the roof over their own heads instead. It’s up to Lacey to track a merciless killer through the winter wilderness. I have to admit, there was one point in the story when I felt Lacey could have put the clues together faster, but this was nonetheless a gripping read that had me turning the pages!
One aspect that I enjoyed immensely about the Falls Mysteries series, is Barnard’s skill in portraying characters who offer unusual perspectives on the crime. In When The Flood Falls, Lacey receives help from Jan, a woman with a mysterious illness that often leaves her suffering from debilitating fatigue. In Where The Ice Falls, Lacey is given tips from Zoe who swears they came from a ghost, resulting in particularly chilling scenes. Both Jan and Zoe are outsiders, struggling to fit in. Lacey herself left the RCMP after experiencing domestic violence, because she could no longer work as a Mountie in a “police brotherhood who protect[s] male officers first”. These female characters lend each other support and strength, against the odds.
Although no longer a Mountie, Lacey has just completed her Victims Services training, and is asked to provide support to those affected by Eric’s death. Inconsistencies in the case point to murder, and Lacey starts investigating but the clock is ticking. Dee needs to sell the chalet before their joint finances get so dire that she has to sell the roof over their own heads instead. It’s up to Lacey to track a merciless killer through the winter wilderness. I have to admit, there was one point in the story when I felt Lacey could have put the clues together faster, but this was nonetheless a gripping read that had me turning the pages!
One aspect that I enjoyed immensely about the Falls Mysteries series, is Barnard’s skill in portraying characters who offer unusual perspectives on the crime. In When The Flood Falls, Lacey receives help from Jan, a woman with a mysterious illness that often leaves her suffering from debilitating fatigue. In Where The Ice Falls, Lacey is given tips from Zoe who swears they came from a ghost, resulting in particularly chilling scenes. Both Jan and Zoe are outsiders, struggling to fit in. Lacey herself left the RCMP after experiencing domestic violence, because she could no longer work as a Mountie in a “police brotherhood who protect[s] male officers first”. These female characters lend each other support and strength, against the odds.
April 27, 2021
While the first Falls mystery (as I said in the review of that book) starts off a little slow, this one gets right to it on the first page! Got my attention! Another very well written mystery. There is great balancing between Lacey beginning to be able to tell her own story and deal with her past and incidents of spousal abuse, and her strength and ability to help others and solve murders. Again I commend J.E. Barnard for how she has included the issues of females in male dominated professions, spousal abuse, elder care, the subject of assisted dying, and even how those who are sensitive to the energies around them learn to deal with them and with people who may not believe in their abilities. I am really looking forward to reading the third of the Falls Mysteries.
September 24, 2019
I enjoyed meeting up with Lacey and Dee again. This book was even better than Book #1 in the series, I love reading books set in good old Alberta; and, J.E. Barnard truly did capture the locations throughout extremely well. Right down to Timmies across from SAIT. The characters are likeable and interesting. There was a lot happening so keeping it all straight had me scurrying back through my kindle to be sure I was reading the right character's words. The attention to detail regarding the oil industry was impressive - not too many writers out there know what a production accountant does. The crime scene knowledge sounded expert and even the details surrounding domestic abuse were handled extremely well. I did not stumble at any stage in accepting the plot as it developed. I did have the murderer pegged fairly early in the book but there was still enough happening to cast doubt. Good read. I look forward to the next book in the series.
August 14, 2019
A cool winter mystery set in Alberta’s stunning snow laden landscapes. The supernatural element is balanced nicely with the pragmatics of a police procedural. Think Ghost meets Veronica Mars without the steamy pottery wheel scene. For my full review go to https://www.shekillslit.com/2019/08/1...
August 27, 2019
Solid writing and character development. An author to follow.
September 4, 2020
Super happy to delve back into former RCMP officer Lacey’s world. She’s smart, fierce, and worth getting to know better. The frozen countryside and a ghostly presence add layers of tension to a satisfying mystery! Can’t wait to read book 3 in the series!
May 12, 2022
A bit confusing with many directions and characters. A ghost that is going clues to a crime, spousal abuse ANd even assisted suicide.. hmm.an okay story.wish it just held to one plot.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews