Murder on Ice

Rating:
Summary: Good understanding of the sport of ice skating
Review: I found the book by Alina Adams, "Murder on Ice," a welcome addition to the ice skating literature because the author has experience in the sport as a figure-skating researcher and feature producer for: ABC (Nationals, Europeans and Worlds); TNT (1998 Winter Olympics); NBC ( the StarSkates series); and ESPN (Jr. Worlds). I say this because today there are so few fictional books authored by people who actually have had an exposure to the sport they are writing about. In my opinion, this prevents them from having an adequate understanding of the technical, social and political characteristics of figure skating.

I personally have come across only one other fictional ice skating murder mystery series where the author writes accurately about the sport of ice skating within a murder mystery storyline. In this regard, Joan Bartlett has two high-quality books, namely, " Nice Shows" and "Judge Me Nottingham." Both of these malice domestic mysteries are set in an ice arena. Joan Bartlett is a former high-test figure and ice dancer, coach and amateur ice show producer. She also has done volunteer work with the local police department, including independent study in police procedures and forensic science, all of which adds credibility to discussions in these areas.

Rating:
Summary: Lively and Amusing
Review: If you enjoy curling up with a cozy little mystery with an interesting twist then I highly recommend "Murder on Ice".

Figure skating fans in particular should enjoy this charming tale but even those who aren't skating fans will enjoy the mischievious sense of fun that the protaganist, a researcher named Bex, displays as she races to solve the murder of the judge before the championships end.

Rating:
Summary: Lively and Amusing
Review: If you enjoy curling up with a cozy little mystery with an interesting twist then I highly recommend "Murder on Ice".

Figure skating fans in particular should enjoy this charming tale but even those who aren't skating fans will enjoy the mischievious sense of fun that the protaganist, a researcher named Bex, displays as she races to solve the murder of the judge before the championships end.

Rating:
Summary: Murder mystery with a figure skating twist
Review: Murder on Ice by Alina Adams is a fabnlous book! It offers an accurate and humorous account of the figure skating world, with a storyline being a twist of the 2002 Olympics.
Bex Levy is a figure skating researcher. She works 20 hour days, and knows all the ins and outs of the figure skating world. When the Russian beats the American at the world championships, the blame is pinned on the Italian judge for not voting with the western block. When the Italian judge is found dead the next day, Bex is ordered by her boss the find the killer.
Murder on ice is a humerous, unique book that is recommended for figure skating fans of all ages, or for someone who just wants to read a great mystery.

Rating:
Summary: Murder mystery with a figure skating twist
Review: Murder on Ice by Alina Adams is a fabnlous book! It offers an accurate and humorous account of the figure skating world, with a storyline being a twist of the 2002 Olympics.
Bex Levy is a figure skating researcher. She works 20 hour days, and knows all the ins and outs of the figure skating world. When the Russian beats the American at the world championships, the blame is pinned on the Italian judge for not voting with the western block. When the Italian judge is found dead the next day, Bex is ordered by her boss the find the killer.
Murder on ice is a humerous, unique book that is recommended for figure skating fans of all ages, or for someone who just wants to read a great mystery.

Rating:
Summary: winning amateur sleuth
Review: Since starting her research job at Network 24/7, Bex Levy has had to learn everything there was to know about figure skating. That way when TV commentators Francis and Diana Howarth are commenting on a live show they have all the needed material at their fingertips. At the World Figure Skating Championship's in San Francisco, everyone expects cute Erin Simpson to take the gold.

When the final results are tabulated, the Russian girl Xenia Trubin wins the top prize. The fans, the TV commentators and Erin's mother all say that Erin was cheated out of the gold. The four Russian judges voted for Xenia and the four western judges voted for Erin. The tie breaker vote was cast by Italian Judge Silvana Potenza who later was found murdered in the refrigerator room of the ice skating rink. The director of 24/7 tells Bex that if she wants a job next year she has to figure out who the killer is, which leaves her skating on thin ice.

Alina Adams gives a glimpse into the rivalries, the animosities and the bickering that goes on in the world of amateur figure skating. However, as interesting as that is, the protagonist scores a 10 as one of better leads to come along in years. She is perky, has a delightful sense of humor and leaves no stone unturned in her quest to find a murderer though one must wonder why her employer forced Bex to play detective. MURDER ON ICE is a winning amateur sleuth tale starring a delightful self-deprecating heroine.

Rating:
Summary: winning amateur sleuth
Review: Since starting her research job at Network 24/7, Bex Levy has had to learn everything there was to know about figure skating. That way when TV commentators Francis and Diana Howarth are commenting on a live show they have all the needed material at their fingertips. At the World Figure Skating Championship's in San Francisco, everyone expects cute Erin Simpson to take the gold.

When the final results are tabulated, the Russian girl Xenia Trubin wins the top prize. The fans, the TV commentators and Erin's mother all say that Erin was cheated out of the gold. The four Russian judges voted for Xenia and the four western judges voted for Erin. The tie breaker vote was cast by Italian Judge Silvana Potenza who later was found murdered in the refrigerator room of the ice skating rink. The director of 24/7 tells Bex that if she wants a job next year she has to figure out who the killer is, which leaves her skating on thin ice.

Alina Adams gives a glimpse into the rivalries, the animosities and the bickering that goes on in the world of amateur figure skating. However, as interesting as that is, the protagonist scores a 10 as one of better leads to come along in years. She is perky, has a delightful sense of humor and leaves no stone unturned in her quest to find a murderer though one must wonder why her employer forced Bex to play detective. MURDER ON ICE is a winning amateur sleuth tale starring a delightful self-deprecating heroine.

Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: This book should please every fan of figure skating. Bex Levy, skating reasercher for TV broadcaster 24/7 uncovers a tricky murder mystery using her powers of conversational crime fighting and meeting everyone from skating mothers to perky teenagers to eccentric coaches and skating-struck middle aged men along the way. I definitely recommend this hilarious book.

Rating:
Summary: Murder and Ice Skating
Review: This is a great cozy mystery. It is the first mystery I've read that combines murder and figure skating and is very well written.

Rebecca "Bex" Levy is a figure-skating researcher for the 24/7 network. It is the World Figure Skating Championships in San Francisco -- the end of her first season. The Russian skater, Xenia Trubin, is awarded the Gold medal and the U. S. skater, Erin Simpson, is awarded the Silver medal. The 24/7 broadcasters, Diana and Francis Howarth, state on the air that they believe Erin skated better and should have been awarded the Gold. They go on to imply that the Italian judge was bribed to vote with the ex-Soviet bloc of judges. Bex is appalled.

Then Silvana Potenza, the Italian judge, is found dead. The police believe it was an accident. Bex finds a printout of an email sent to Silvana the morning before the ladies' long program. It lists the ladies' finish order as Xenia first and Erin second. The email was signed Sergei Alemazov, Xenia's coach.

Bex finds there are so many suspects and so little time -- she has promised her boss Gil that she'd figure out who killed Silvana before their big show in two days.

I am a fan of figure skating, so merging it and murder together truly interested me. I like Bex, she's a very likable character. Her job as a researcher helps her have access to and information about the people involved that most people couldn't find. Ms. Adams has done a great job in creating this character.

Bex' boss Gil is a bit over the top, but that's what makes him so great. The Howarth's are very believable and are utilized at the right times in this book. This was a great book in what I hope will be a long series. I can't wait to read the next one. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book.

Rating:
Summary: Wheee! What fun.
Review: What a funny, true picture of high stakes, international figure skating competitions. As a skater, coach and amateur ice show producer myself, as a volunteer at too many competitions to mention, I could feel the tension rise as the final scenes were played out. The descriptions of the various characters involved in the plot are wonderfully close to the real thing.

I am looking forward to the next book in the series, "Missing on Ice."

In the meantime, there are two other good murder mysteries about ice skating. These two, "Nice Shows" and "Judge Me Nottingham," portray the skaters and coaches during the initial hard work and planning before the skaters reach national and international competition levels. And by the way, I'm the author of these two books!