Out on patrol in the small town of Hopewell Falls, New
York,
June (Juniper) Lyons helps to take care of a local town
drunk so he doesn't freeze to death in the bitter cold.
She
really doesn't mind her life now, even if low key. Her
job
had been far more exciting when she was an FBI Agent, but
when her family circumstances changed, she left it for
this.
Now, a relatively recent widow, her top concern and
priority
is spending time with her young daughter Lucy.
Noticing a young teenager she recognizes as Jackie DeGroot
struggling with her jacket caught on a chain link fence
overlooking the falls, she stops her patrol car to help
her.
With a tear streaked face, a mute Jackie just keeps waving
wildly towards the falls. After getting back-up to care
for
Jackie, June cautiously makes her way down the treacherous
slop. Following Jackie's footprints in the snow, June is
shocked by what she finds.... a young girl impaled on one
of
the ice spears formed in the frozen Mohawk River!
How had the brutally murdered girl gotten there? Who
could
have committed this horrible crime? As the Feds and the
local police investigate and dig deeper, shocking
connections to politics, biker gangs and meth labs are
uncovered. In this high stakes, high-powered dangerous
game,
will they be able to find the real murderer before it is
too
late and their own lives are threatened?
ICE SHEAR is the brilliantly crafted debut mystery novel
by
M.P. Cooley, a young well travelled California writer who
brings a very authentic voice and sense of time and place
to
this small town and its members right from the first page
to
the last. I am utterly captivated with ICE SHEAR and the
courageous and very likeable June Lyons as the heroine in
the story. While ICE SHEAR is easily read as a stand-
alone
novel, I so hope Cooley is able to write more stories
featuring her as protagonist. I particularly enjoyed
reading about how her relationship develops and changes
over
time with Special Agent Hale Bascom, her old friend/enemy
from FBI days, both from the backstories as well as from
developments in the investigation. I also appreciated
how,
much as she dislikes Hale, the intelligent and sharp
witted
June is glad to be back on a large case and working with
others on an investigative team and identifying the
puzzling pieces and clues that surface; yet, can reflect
many different angles.
Both mystery and police procedural fans will have lots to
be entertained by in this exciting and chilling tale.
Cooley very effectively highlights and demonstrates a
strong
understanding of the good things about small towns, yet
offers a very realistic look as the crimes that have
seeped
into these economically depressed and rural areas in
upstate
New York. The plotting is well layered and complex with
many
intriguing nuances. The main characters are strongly
developed and tensions between them are nicely pulled out,
both in the humour and cutting remarks made. Cooley has
put
in a lot of research to make this ring true and to make it
a
real whodoneit!
If you are looking for a riveting, fast moving, well-
crafted
novel filled with dry wit and police backchat for yourself
or for a gift, then ICE SHEAR is definitely the place to
look! Enjoy!
As a cop on the night shift in Hopewell Falls, New York, June Lyons drives drunks home and picks up the doughnuts. A former FBI agent, she left the Bureau when her husband died, and now she and her young daughter are back in upstate New York, living with her father, the town's retired chief of police. When June discovers a young woman's body impaled on an ice shear in the frozen Mohawk River, news of the murder spreads fast; the dead girl was the daughter of a powerful local congresswoman, and her troubled youth kept the gossips busy. Though June was born and raised in Hopewell Falls, the local police see her as an interloper—resentment that explodes in anger when the FBI arrive and deputize her to work on the murder investigation. But June may not find allies among the feds. The agent heading the case is someone from her past—someone she isn't sure she can trust. As June digs deeper, her already tumultuous murder case turns red-hot when it leads to a notorious biker gang and a meth lab hidden in plain sight—and an unmistakable sign that the river murder won't be the last.
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