Frozen Stiff

Claire Watkins #8

by Mary Logue

Book eight in the Claire Watkins mystery series finds car mogul Daniel Walker celebrating New Year's Eve alone, roasting in his sauna. At midnight he runs outside for a quick roll in the snow . . . and the next morning he's found dead—naked, frozen, and covered in snow. While solving this midwinter crime, Claire realizes how tenuous love is, and how frozen she's been since the death of her first husband. Mary Logue is an award-winning poet and mystery writer. She has taught for many years at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and at Hamline University in St. Paul.

Genres: Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Procedural, Adult

223 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read with a great twist...:)

[Katrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a pretty poorly written mystery in my opinion. You could tell a third of the way through who the murderer was--though I will say his motive was a little surprising. There were too many characters and story lines to follow, most of which didn't add to the plot and didn't provide any convincing red herrings. While it took me only four hours to read this book, I wouldn't say it was a gripping story.

Basically, there are way better murder mysteries out there.

[Lelia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This seemed almost like it was written for middle schoolers, with a sex scene added to make it more adult. Characters aren’t particularly developed - even Claire Watkins seems barely there. The most significant character is the cold. Logue has a school marm’s primness about video games and she could use an editor who checks continuity and facts. Details relating to the properties of snow in extremely cold weather and to firearms seem inaccurate, which stopped the flow of my reading. Action scenes didn’t make much sense. The time stamp that precedes each section is distracting since characters say they’ll do something in 10 minutes but the time stamp lets us know 30 vital minutes have elapsed instead with no explanation. The investigation seems to consist of Claire asking Rich what he would do in a certain situation. And conversations like the one in which Rich says “Makes a convoluted sense” and Claire replies “Isn’t that the only kind of sense there is?” had me worrying about her capacity for logic and reason.

[Jan Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I liked it and I am glad to see some growth in Amy though she still has some issues in boundaries.
I am not a fan of Meg's boyfriend Curt, but he is a high school boy and they tend to be immature and act like jerks.
The mystery was not terribly difficult to solve/

[Kaeeap · Rating 3 out of 5]

Claire and her significant other, Rich, get married in this one

[Freda Witt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprising end

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wisconsin setting, near Minnesota border. Claire Watkins is quite likeable, but the constant shifts among six or seven characters was confusing at first. A quick read but not outstanding.

[Lyn Soulia-Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty good. Keeps you guessing to the end.

[Kathleen Hagen]

Frozen Stiff, by Mary Logue, a-minus, Narrated by Joyce Bean, Produced by Audible Inc., Downloaded from audible.com.

This is the latest book in the Claire Watson series. She is a deputy sheriff who moved to Red Wing Minnesota. She had been in a large city police force and now is a deputy sheriff. She has a daughter, and she has lived for some time with a man that she is getting ready to marry. In this book, Claire and her colleagues are called to the scene of what appears to be an accident. On New Year’s Eve, a man, clearly quite drunk, wandered out in the snow to cool off after taking a sauna and inexplicably was locked out. He appears to be dead, frozen to death when they get there, but Claire finds he has a weak pulse and his life is saved. He is not well liked in the town, and his wife is getting a divorce from him, but after he survives freezing to death, she decides to move in and take care of him. She is his second wife, and he has a daughter from his first marriage who hates her step-mother and does everything in her power to keep them from getting back together. She seems to be helped in some ways by a teenage geek who seems to be very interested in her. Then, when the same man is actually shot to death after getting out of the hospital, there is a murder to solve. It’s pretty good with a lot of local Minnesota color that I like, and Joyce Bean gives us a wonderful narration.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have given this book 5 stars because I thoroughly enjoyed it. However, I do not like discrepancies in books and Chapter 19 has a few of them. I live in the area where this book takes place and in the winter the sun is up before the quoted 8:45 a.m where the chapter opens and says that Claire is watching (from a bluff nonetheless) "the first glow of the sun tinge on the horizon." It also states that it will be "another hour or so before the sun crested the land." I know it is dark often here in the winter, but the sun does usually some up before 9:45 a.m. Just sayin'. In that same chapter Amy works with Ted Lawson for a "few hours" and then reveals some news to Claire after all of that has commenced. Yet at 9 a.m. (15 MINUTES later), Claire is driving along thinking about the information Amy has told her. Things like this stick out like a sore thumb to me in a book otherwise so well written. I will read the others in the series and see what I think of those.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVE Mary Logue, I've inhaled every book in this series. Thanks to a shuffling of publishers (certainly through no fault of Logue's) they are a little difficult to find but well worth it. She writes about a female deputy in a tiny Wisconsin town who is widowed and raising a daughter. This late in the series she deeply entrenched with her pheasant farmer boyfriend. While these family details add, she's really a rocket powered storyteller, and this book is no exception. It's about a man who stumbles out of his sauna on a cold Wisconsin New Year's eve into the snow and then can't get back into the house. You have probably guessed the meaning of the title, but the book is full of surprises, strong subplots, and great writing. If you enjoy Marcia Muller or Sue Grafton, you'll probably enjoy Mary Logue as well.

[Carrie Hinkel-Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I've only read two novels in the series - Bone Harvest being the other one - I've managed to find myself surprised by the end of the book, and I'm finding, for me, that it's not that easy to do. I like to pay attention to foreshadowing and omens and that kind of stuff, but there was one scenario that made me just as shocked as the other characters when they found out.

Any story that can suck me in, get me to care about it's characters and bring me even to the brink of tears, laughter or any other sort of emotion gets an A in my book. The fact that it kept me guessing on some things until the very end of the story was the icing on the cake!

I may have only read two of her books, but I believe that I will be looking to read the rest of the Claire Watkins' stories soon enough because I enjoy a well-done mystery!

[Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second novel I've read by Mary Logue (the other was MAIDEN ROCK), and I'm a fan. The edition of FROZEN STIFF that I read needed further proofreading. I almost felt it was an advanced reader's copy, though it was not identified as such. However, that is not the author's fault. As I understand it, the publishing house has been sold. Hopefully the book will receive the editing attention it needs if it comes out in a revised edition. But the story was great. The characters were believable. I love rural mysteries, and this was a good one, so Mary Logue has me as a fan now. I'd think that those who like Longmire novels would also like this series. Strong female protagonist, good subplots. She did not sacrifice character for plot, nor vice versa. I WILL read more.

THANK YOU, Mary Logue, for your sharing your stories with the rest of us.

[Catherine Woodman]

I like this mystery series, and Clair Watkins, the cop who lives in rural Wisconsin with her teenaged daughter and her live-in boyfriend. The story here is not as it would appear--the two people with the most to gain are not the ones who have done the dirty deed, and the story of the crime unfolds well. As I have said many times before, for me the mysteries that I like the best are those where there is an equal part of the story that is unrelated to the crime, and that is true in this series--the characters lives move forward in a way that a lot of series struggle with--Claire is struggling with her daughter's emerging sexuality and independence, she is struggling with her middle age and what to do about her relationship with Rich. If that all sounds good, then read this--recommended.

[Maureen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read all of Mary Logue's Claire Watkins stories this month and each was more disappointing. Interesting story ideas and the physical setting is compelling however the outcomes are contrived. The editing is terrible with lots of really dumb mistakes slipping through. For example, Claire comments in Frozen Stiff that when she was in Minneapolis there was a "murder a day". Really? A little research would have told her that Minneapolis averages about 40 murders a year. In Bone Harvest, a visiting grandfather helps get the kids ready for school - but the book is set in July. Meg is in 5th grade when her cousin is born but a Junior in HIgh School when the child turns 4. The list goes on.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Claire Watson mystery I've read. The setting on the Wisconsin side of Lake Pepin was interesting, and I could relate to the way the relentlessly cold winter was portrayed. While I liked the general cast of characters and could certainly pick up another book in the series for easy reading, I was distracted by grammatical errors and the over-done character portrayal of Danielle. I presume she was added for this particular plot, and is not likely to be included in future books.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a rich pain in the neck is found frozen nearly to death, the fingers start pointing. This series mixes police procedural conventions with near-cozy (maybe a bit too edgy to be strictly cozy - there is some blood, after all.)

I didn't read it for the who dun it quotient, but the how will they get around to figuring it out and proving it.

[Michelle Gilstrap · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a very quick read. I read it while I was traveling on the plane going from California to Chicago in one day. Great mystery and crisp writing. Loved that I couldn't figure out the who dune it until the end. One of my new favorite writers.

[Andy Plonka · Rating 4 out of 5]

almost a cozy but has a bit of an edge to it. The title is appropriate, as it is set in Minnesota in the winter and one of the principal characters is caught locked out of his house during a snowstorm. The problem is the perpetrator is obvious

[Evan Kingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this is the first Claire Watkins I've read, I felt at home with the cast from 50 pages in. Nice mystery and plotting, but what struck me most was the pleasant sense of small town community, made me want to read the rest of the series.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars, Pretty average non-graphic procedural mystery. Much better than the last two installments in the series. I may not give up on the series, though this was the last one I currently own, so we'll see. I'd be surprised if the library after our move has them.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another pleasant, by-the-numbers mystery with the usual cast of characters. Claire and Rich finally get married!

[Karla]

Read in 2010 - Set in Wisconsin - Lake Pepin Area - mystery "Claire Watkins" - winter setting - would like to read more from this author.
Read again November 2018

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 9th in the series. A good read.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy, fun a great summer read.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good main character. An interesting mystery, easy to read. A good summer vacation read. Not as thrilling as I like my mysteries, but I may give this author another try.

[Kathy Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Logue's heroine Claire Watkins is like an old friend. I always feel better after reading one!

[Lorlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

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