Book Review: The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe

The Ice Beneath Her

by

Camilla Grebe

If you have read my blogs before you may have guessed that I do like a good old Psychological Thriller. I came across this book in my local supermarket whilst I was browsing the book section. I have never heard of Camilla Grebe before so I had a look and it sounded really good, plus it was only £5 (€5.69/$6.38US) which is great for a new hard back. In my basket it went....

"A good storyline. It just did not get me gripped"

Précis (taken from the cover):

A young woman is found beheaded in an infamous business tycoon's marble-lined hallway.

The businessman, scandal-ridden CEO of the retail chain Clothes & More, is missing without a trace.

But who is the dead woman? And who is the brutal killer who wielded the machete?

Rewind two months earlier to meet Emma Bohman, a sales assistant for Clothes & More, whose life is turned upside down by a chance encounter with Jesper Orre. Insisting that their love affair is kept secret, he shakes Emma's world a second time when he suddenly leaves her with no explanation.

As frightening things begin to happen to Emma, she suspects Jesper is responsible. But why does he want to hurt her? And how far would he go to silence his secret lover?

Review:

When I read about this book, it did sound really good. I love the fact that it was set in Sweden, which was a first for me when reading books. I was really looking forward to reading this.

I found that it did not take me long to get used to the characters and the setting's in this book which I liked. Sometimes there is nothing worse than you having to read a quarter of a book to find out about the main character. I liked how the book was written, mixing it up with modern day and then back in time building the story so that the two met at the end. This kept you guessing and there were plenty of twists along the way which had me changing my mind as to what will happen.

As for the storyline itself, I thought this was really good. Nothing gets you set up for a book than a body missing it's head. There were parts which where gross and there were parts that kept you on edge. All in all the perfect recipe for a good psychological thriller. However, the bit I was really disappointed with was that it just did not get me gripped. I found the book a struggle in parts where you really did have to push yourself to carry on reading. A lot of psychological thrillers finish each chapter on a cliff hanger to get your mind racing and to push you to read on. I found this is where you felt let down on what could have been a cracking read.

The characters in the book where really good, my favourite were the people who worked for the police. I loved how they had a bit of history between them and also that their lives were not perfect, which gave it a real life feel to it. In 2016 my wife and I watch a short drama series called 100 code which was also set in Sweden and the characters reminded me a bit of these.

I scored this book a 3 out of 5. Like I've said, the storyline is good but the reading of it was not great. Would I read another book by Camilla Grebe?? You know what I probably would, I believe you have to give author's another chance to impress you and I am positive Camilla will.

I would like to know what other people think, that have read this? Do you agree with me or not? let me know..

Speak soon,

CBailey31