The Ice House - 1997 TV show review

I've mentioned Minette Walters several times on this blog over the years. She made a great impression from the start of her crime writing career, having previously written pseudonymous romantic fiction. The Ice House was a striking and award-winning debut in our genre; it was published in 1992 and five years later it was adapted for television with an excellent cast including the future James Bond, Daniel Craig.

I read and reviewed the book shortly after it came out, but I seem to have missed the TV version. I can report, however, that it stands the test of time very well. Credit goes not only to the author but also the screenwriter, Lizzie Mickery, who develops the characters and relationships effectively without sacrificing the momentum of the story.

A body is discovered in the ice house of a rather grand old home which is now occupied by three women: Phoebe Maybury (Penny Downie), Diana Goode (Frances Barber) and Anne Cattrell (Kitty Aldridge). The police assume that the deceased is David Maybury, husband of Phoebe and an unpleasant piece of work. The investigation is conducted by an interesting and contrasting pair of cops, DCI Walsh (Corin Redgrave) and cocky young DS McLoughlin (Craig). And before long, he becomes fascinated by Anne Cattrell. A dangerous liaison begins...

The quality of the acting matched the writing. Craig is excellent and so, in a very different way, is Redgrave. I thought Kitty Aldridge gave a truly compelling and charismatic performance and it's a shame that she gave up acting long ago, although she's become a successful novelist. This is a good example of a TV adaptation that doesn't go on too long. I really enjoyed it.

Tideline - review

Tideline is a first novel, by Penny Hancock, that has quickly achieved a great reputation. I met Penny at Crimefest in May, when we were on the same panel, moderated by Peter Guttridge. What she had to say about her debut sounded interesting, and at last I've caught up with it. Suffice to say that the accolades are well-earned - this is going to be the rave review I promised yesterday!

The story-line interweaves two connected narratives. Sonia tells her story in the first person, and it soon becomes clear that she is rather disturbed, possibly as a result of a tragic incident in her past involving somone called Seb. A 15 year old boy comes to visit her in her intriguing home on the banks of the River Thames - and Sonia decides that she doesn't want to let him leave.

An alternative perspective is provided by a third person narrative featuring Helen, the aunt of the missing boy. Helen has her own problems, compounded by a taste for alcohol, and her life disintegrates as the police investigate the boy's disappearance, and suspicion grows that she may have had a hand in it.

Years ago, I talked to a literary agent about the success of Minette Walters; she attributed it to a combination of excellent plotting and excellent writing. The same can be said of Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vne, and with Penny Hancock's debut, the blend of story and style is again very impressive. The setting is superbly evoked, and though the plot has some echoes of The Collector and Misery, this is not a weakness, for the author has a very different approach from that of John Fowles and  Stephen King, and the result is a very different book. I really enjoyed this one - it's the best recent debut I've read since Belinda Bauer's Blacklands.