MURDER ON ICE

by Ted Wood ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 20, 1984

Wood's engaging debut, Dead in the Water (1983), was marred by pulpy plotting and cartoonish villains. And those flaws, unfortunately, are downright dominant in this painfully contrived second outing for Reid Bennett, the one-man police force for Murphy's Harbour, Ontario. Rich, gorgeous Nancy Carmichael is crowned Carnival Queen at the town's annual ice festival--but, during a sudden brief blackout, she disappears. Has she been abducted? So it seems--by a feminist group called ""CLAW."" But, though Nancy herself was apparently a conspirator in the stunt, the phony kidnap obviously soon gets out of hand. One CLAW member turns up dead. Another one is abandoned on an ice-plain, naked, before Bennett rescues her. More corpses surface as Bennett relentlessly trails the kidnap: pers--with Vietnam-style grenades among the murder weapons. And though Bennett does eventually find Nancy (a rape victim), the villains have now taken his girlfriend Valerie hostage. What's the motive for all this? Feminism, radicalism; or revenge? All of the above, it turns out--but without an ounce of credibility. So fans of Wood's debut will find this a sorely disappointing follow-up--with little Ontario charm, lots of dumb violence, and laughably dated references to feminists (""man-haters"") and homosexuals (""limp-wrists"").

Pub Date: June 20, 1984

ISBN: 1585868590

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION