REVENGE ON ICE
From the Sara/Ryker Mysteries series, volume 2
by Linda LeBlanc
Florida police detectives investigate when a frozen man’s death turns out to be murder in LeBlanc’s mystery sequel.
The naked corpse of an unidentified man turns up at a meatpacking plant in the city of Reunion Heights. Det. Sara Lansing and her partner, Ryker Harris, arrive at the scene and quickly identify Vance Miller, a popular mountaineer. Ligature marks on the victim’s wrists and ankles suggest that someone forced him into the freezer and let him die from exposure to frigid temperatures. There’s not much more evidence at the plant, though, so the detectives commence searching for anyone with a possible motive. At first, Miller doesn’t seem to have any enemies who would want to take him out. When Sara and Ryker dig further, however, they realize that the deceased’s team on a Mount Everest expedition includes four viable suspects. One is dealing with a life-changing injury, and another has been hard to track down since the morning after the murder. Miller’s involvement in another, near-fatal expedition, and the likelihood that he was cheating on his wife, together add to a mounting pile of possible suspects. Along the way, Sara has the chance to reconnect with two people who abandoned her—her ex-husband, whom she hasn’t seen in six years, and her father, who left her to be raised by an alcoholic mother. Meanwhile, Ryker, who’s been an absentee father, debates calling his daughter to attempt to repair their fractured relationship. As Sara and Ryker inch closer to a solution, the vengeful killer will do whatever it takes to stay out of prison.
Much of LeBlanc’s sophomore series installment plays like a typical police procedural as the detectives interview the expedition team one by one, question various spouses, and chat with Miller’s fellow pickleball players. It’s quite some time before they make any headway, though, which is one of the reasons that their boss, Chief McBride, is perpetually frazzled. Other possible suspects include a metal sculptor, a violin maker, and two people engaged in a mountain-climbing competition in which they must use a special key to open a safe full of prize money. The banter between the two leads is entertainingly persistent and primarily consists of them nosing into each other’s lives. Sara, for instance, urges Ryker to start a healthier diet; she scoffs at his stakeout food (“artery-clogging donuts”), but he assures her that a frosting-covered pastry “energizes [his] brain.” Ryker, who landed in some trouble back when he was a New York City cop, isn’t much of a detective; he’s overly aggressive, not especially bright, and apparently not in the best shape. Although he’s never actively detrimental to the investigation, it’s hardly surprising that Sara gets a significant break in the case when she’s working it by herself. The narrative engagingly ramps up in the latter half; the solution comes together a touch too quickly, but the detectives’ hunt for the culprit makes for a riveting final act.A sharp main character gives this conventional mystery a hearty boost.