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!