Ice (Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery – 1) by Lauren Carr
When Sandy Lipton and her unborn child disappeared, the court of public opinion found young Chris Matheson guilty. Decades later, the retired FBI agent returns home to discover that the cloud of suspicion cast over him and his family has never lifted.
With the help of a team of fellow retired law enforcement officers, each a specialist in their own field of investigation, Chris Matheson starts chipping away at the ice on this cold case to uncover what had happened to Sandy and her baby and the clues are getting hot!
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Author’s Bio
Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!
Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, romance, and humor.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
My Review
5 stars
Chris Matheson is a retired FBI agent that has moved home after the death of his wife to a terrorist attack. He now lives on his mother’s farm with his three daughters. Because he has shut himself off from the world, his mother talks him into joining his late father’s book club. This is no ordinary group; it is a collection of retired law enforcement officials that does a lot more than read books called the Geezer Squad. They reluctantly let Chris in and show him that they are working on one of Chris’ dad’s old cold cases. Middle age women are found brutally killed with their houses burned down around them.
But this is not the only murder they will be investigating. Twenty years earlier, Chris took a teenage girl, Sandy Lipton to the prom. Shortly thereafter she is found to be pregnant and she insists that Chris is the father, but that can’t be since nothing happened after prom. Just before Sandy is to have the baby she disappears and Chris is initially blamed for the murder. Even though he is cleared the locals still look at him as the killer that has his police father cover everything up.
Chris has his hands full with the investigation when a former friends wife is discovered murdered and he tries to blame Chris. There is a cartel member that is found dead on Chris’ property. You have the brother to Sandy Lipton that seems to have everything going for him. And don’t forget the casino owner’s daughter that has a rap sheet and a quick answer to all the questions.
This is another great mystery from Lauren Carr. I love Chris. He is a good man that finds himself in trouble yet keeps his cool. I loved Doris, she’s one woman you don’t want to cross or you will be stuck eating her tuna casserole. Oh, and you can’t forget Sterling. A retired police dog that is “goofy.” And I have to say that I love Mick Alger’s narration, he adds so much life to the characters.
If you love mysteries and enjoy Lauren’s other books you need to check out the new Chris Matheson series. You will not be disappointed.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
I would like to thank iRead Book Tours for the opportunity to read and share this book.
Guest Post
Killing Friends, Acquaintances, and Strangers
By Lauren Carr
“Do you ever kill anyone you know in your books?”
Every time I make a new acquaintance, upon discovering that I write murder mysteries, at some point, they will shoot me a worried expression and ask that question, to which I will reply, “Yes.”
That’s why I have no friends.
I don’t always kill people I know. Sometimes I kill complete strangers.
Such was the case in my new release Ice. In this first installment in my newest series, the protagonist, Chris Matheson, witnesses a fight between two women while at an all-night department store. After the fight is broken up, one of the women proclaims that she is pregnant, declares herself a victim, and immediately takes names while calling her thug boyfriend.
The other woman grabs a case of beer and hurries out the door. As she passes Chris, he notes that being an older woman, she was pretty old to be getting into fights. Shortly afterwards, she is murdered, and Chris is drawn into the case.
Except for the murder, this scene is one that I had witnessed at a department store at least twenty years ago. Like Chris, when one of the women hurried past me with a case of beer, I observed that she seemed old to be getting into fights over someone cutting in line at a store check-out.
Not unlike the scene in Ice, the other woman, an equal participant in the fisticuffs, launched into a victim act worthy of an Academy Award.
This scene—both the fight and the two women involved—was so striking that I stored it away in the back of my mind to draw upon later. No, I didn’t take any names or even write any notes on paper. I just tucked this incident away. Two decades later, when planning the plotline for Ice, I took it out, dusted it off, and realized that the fight, followed by one of the women’s murder, was the perfect catalyst to draw Chris back into a decades old cold case.
Had either of these women done anything to me to warrant what one would perceive as a negative portrayal? No, I had never seen either of them before or since. Their only crime was capturing my attention and inspiring me. Today, I doubt if I could pick either of them out of a line-up. Their images have been replaced with two characters who fit into my plotline.
So, to go back to the original question: Do I ever kill people I know in my books? Yes, and I also kill total strangers.
So, if you see me, you’ll want to be careful. You could very well end up in my book. If not now, maybe later, when you least expect it.
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