Review: Revenge on Ice by Linda LeBlanc

Bad blood thrives on the mountaintops in Revenge on Ice by Linda LeBlanc, a vividly crafted second installment of the Sara/Ryker Mysteries.

When world-renowned mountain climber and local hero, Vance Miller, is found dead in a meat locker, the bizarre case lands in the lap of Sara and Ryker, the newest partners of the Reunion Heights Police Department. Members of the local Hiking Club – including the victim’s climbing team from a previous Everest summit – had gathered for the culmination of an intercontinental climbing contest Vance had presumably won, which included a small fortune in prize money.

However, it turns out that the golden boy of the Seven Summits had a selfish streak that endangered multiple lives with his negligence on the slopes, giving his co-climbers a solid motive for revenge. With old grudges pressing in from all sides, Sara and Ryker are faced with a steep challenge to solve the case, as the list of suspects is anything but simple. The case hits particularly close to home for Sara, who had missed the same summit by only a few hundred feet six years earlier, a painful emotional trigger from the past.

Both Sara and Ryker carry some heavy emotional baggage, and already have a natural chemistry and closeness that make their shared scenes seamless after only a few weeks of knowing one another. There is plenty of fresh ground for them to cover as partners, friends, and perhaps more – a slow dance of curiosity and conversation that makes for some spirited exchanges, even in the midst of their hunt for another heartless killer. Their jarringly different personalities offer an endless string of opportunities for good-natured banter, leading to dialogue about everything from the perils of aging and relationship standards to investigative styles and pop-culture trends.

The odd-couple protagonists are again supported by a colorful and eccentric cast of secondary characters and suspects: Heath the paranoid wingnut, Patrick the accident-prone animal lover, Celia the melodramatic widow, Zoey the teary-eyed temptress, and Tanner, the mysterious disappearing architect. Navigating their overlapping stories, underlying alliances, and overt hostilities makes this a second curious case to remember for the intrepid sleuths.

Each character has the larger-than-life quality of a traditional cozy mystery, but with enough down-to-earth detail to keep the mystery grounded and believable. Similar to the first book in this series, LeBlanc brings her personal experience to the niche subject matter of the murder, in this case elite mountaineering, which makes the story immersive and effortlessly authentic. The pitch-perfect reflection of extreme athlete egos makes the novel feel like getting a sneak peak on a rarified world.

In terms of precision and execution, the text would benefit from a final proofread to catch the occasional missing word or awkward phrase, and some of the more heavy-handed dialogue could be polished for subtlety. The story leans a bit heavily into foreshadowing, undercutting the suspense in certain moments, as well as relying too much on classic detective duo tropes with a close-knit group of suspects. Contemporary mystery readers may want more than stock interrogation questions and basic procedural details; however, there are still plenty of twists as the truth unfolds, keeping the story engaging from the start.

Clever and engrossing from the discovery of the body to the big reveal, this is a strong sophomore installment of an original mystery series, which is uniquely enhanced by real-world detail.