The Ice Twins by S. K. Tremayne
Genre; Psychological crime
A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcraft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives.
But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity—that she, in fact, is Lydia—their world comes crashing down once again.
As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, Sarah finds herself tortured by the past—what really happened on that fateful day one of her daughters died?
My Thoughts:
This story starts in a solicitors office as Sarah and Angus are signing the papers for the property on the isolated island inherited from Angus’s grandmother. During this scene, we see how the death of their daughter has affected both of them and how it has affected their marriage, how they are fighting to keep it together. Scotland is a new start for them. A chance to leave everything behind.
Then, as it mentions in the blurb, Kirstie claims that she is in fact Lydia which means that fresh start they wanted doesn’t go quite as planned. Can you imagine how shocked you’d be hearing that?
I loved the concept of this novel and wondered where it would go, where the author would take me. I was not let down as throughout the reading you are constantly unsure exactly what is happening and who the child is. And because of this, there is a gradual breakdown of the family unit as each member struggles with the situation and the child struggles with her identity.
The Ice Twins is beautifully written and had me turning the pages quickly, just wanting to know what was happening and also enjoying the writing. The cold isolated setting was well drawn, especially the isolation of joining a new community when you have the very obvious “issues” as Kirstie had.
Eventually the story spirals down into it’s very bleak ending but it fits with the whole story. It’s about the death of a child, the mourning of the parents and sibling, so you have to be in the mood to read it, but it is really well done and worth a read. If you read crime anyway, bleak is a way of life for you, so this should easily be your cup of tea. It didn’t feel quite right to say I enjoyed this book, but it’s a well written, twisty, crime novel that I wanted to keep reading to the end.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my copy.
Glad you enjoyed this one, sort of!
Yes, I did. I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened next so yes, as far as crime goes I think that’s classed as enjoying 🙂
I love the premise of this one, although did wonder how credible it would feel for parents to not know exactly which daughter died… but sounds like Tremayne pulls it off. Do like the promise of a well written chilling story – content & atmospheric – sounds ideal for an autumnal evening in front of a logfire.
It’s definitely fitting for an autumnal evening! And as for not knowing which child died, it’s explained quite well how they wouldn’t be able to tell. Especially if you’re willing to go along with it. I’d be interested to know what you think of it if you do get around to reading it.
This sounds great. Another for the list!
That’s the problem with blogging, we keep finding and adding more books to our TBRs! 🙂
I can’t imagine you could say you enjoyed a story like that.
Exactly. But it was well written and engaging. It kept me turning the pages and wanting to know more so I think that constitutes enjoyment sometimes in crime fiction.
I’ve certainly been hearing a lot about this one, Rebecca. I can see where it’d be suspenseful, too. Not sure it’s for me, to be honest, but I am glad there were things you really liked about it.
There are so many books in the genre that there are many for everyone and lots that don’t suit as well. It’s why reading is so great isn’t it, we all love different things.
I have a copy of this book in my cupboard but I think I may have to leave it there for a while… glad there was plenty to enjoy though 🙂
That’s the problem isn’t it? Too many books, not enough time!
What I loved about this one was the imagery – I could see the places and almost smell the sea. A couple of things spoiled it though – one was the number of colons and the punctuation in general. It started to jump out at me, which was distracting. And I in spite of what she says, I don’t think a mother wouldn’t know which twin was in front of her. Eating habits, bangs and bashes, tricks of speech. And their ears are always slightly different. So although it was a good story and I enjoyed it, it didn’t quite work for me.