Death on Ice

R.O. Thorp

WELCOME aboard the Dauphin, a state-of-the-art ship on its way to the Arctic with a passenger list that includes scientists on a marine research voyage... and a mixed bunch of wealthy passengers looking for a sea adventure with a difference.

What no one had counted on was a murder on the ice, miles from anywhere and in the middle of a freezing wilderness. And with almost everyone on board under suspicion, it’s going to be a very ‘cold case’ for the only two people with a (literally) watertight alibi.

Batten down the hatches and set sail with an irresistibly compelling cosy crime caper from R.O. Thorp (pictured below), an Australian currently living in Cork in Ireland who was a Clarendon Scholar at Oxford, won the London Short Story Award in 2011, and is also a lyricist and librettist with works commissioned by the Arts Council, the Wellcome Trust and St Paul’s Cathedral.

Death on Ice is her first foray into murder mysteries and this killer cruise to the frozen north is pure escapism packed full of chills, thrills, shocks and sharks, and a coruscating cast that includes twin brother and sister scientists, the craziest passenger list this side of the Arctic Circle, and a tight-knit crew harbouring their own dark secrets. Add on a thread of gay romance, a two-person ocean submersible, and you have a murderously fun romp set against a breathtaking (in every sense) backdrop.

Meet the Blanchard twins, both marine biologists... Rose is practical, sharp, protective of her less worldly brother, and her speciality is manta rays, while Finn – whose speciality is sharks – is too sweet and kind for his own good.

They are both aboard the Dauphin on a research mission, with two laboratories at their disposal and the use of a small two-man submersible to travel down to the sea bed and lay camera-traps in the hope of viewing the habitats of the Greenland shark, one of the longest-lived animals in the natural world. At the helm of the Dauphin is Captain Anders Johannsson, a man of many parts who is secretly unsettled about this voyage because of ‘a floating feeling out-of-kilter strangeness’ that hit him as he left port in England. Also on board is an eclectic bunch of very rich passengers whose exceedingly expensive fares are helping to pay for the expedition but who are chiefly there to eat foie gras, dabble on ice floes, and witness the glories of the deep, champagne in hand.

But when Rose and Finn make a submersible dive to the sea bed, they return to the Dauphin and make a terrible discovery... one of their scientist colleagues – albeit a man nobody likes – has been murdered on the ice with a harpoon that should never have been there.

Everyone else on the luxury cruise ship – the passengers, the other scientists, the crew and the strangely calm captain – were all aboard at the time so they are all under suspicion. Rose and Finn were the only two at sea and they are miles from anywhere, so it’s up to them to investigate. On scientific problems, they are a brilliant team, but can the twins solve a murder? Fortunately, they are helped by the airborne arrival of Tom Heissman and Titus Williams, two police detectives whose investigation into a smuggling ring has taken them to the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. Together with Rose and Finn, can they find the killer?

Death on Ice – the first of a dazzling Blanchard Twins Mystery series – is organised mayhem from start to finish as Thorp lets loose her imagination and her writing skills on a gloriously wacky murder escapade with the charm of the Golden Age and the scientific sophistication of the 21^st century.

Scientists Rose and Finn – two very different peas from the same pod – prove to be a delightfully eccentric detective duo, and when they team up with likeable police officers Tom and Titus, the story (and the voyage) takes a turn into even more dramatic waters. With a twisting plot which quickly runs into deep trouble, some entertaining personality clashes, and lots of dark secrets popping up through the frigid air, Death on Ice is overflowing with cool, contemporary vibes, and yet retains the seductive timelessness of the murder mystery genre. Don’t miss the boat!
(Faber & Faber, paperback, £9.99)