"The Body in the Ice House" by Kate Hardy is a delightful cozy mystery that offers the perfect blend of charm and suspense. Set in the picturesque Norfolk countryside, the story follows photographer and amateur sleuth Georgina Drake as she stumbles upon the body of the manor’s lady in an ancient ice house. What begins as a simple photography gig quickly turns into a twisty mystery involving dark family secrets, feuds, and a boisterous dog named Bertie.

For fans of cozy mysteries, this book delivers all the right elements: an engaging amateur detective, a beautiful setting, and a cast of quirky characters. The plot moves at a comfortable pace, with just the right amount of intrigue and suspense to keep you hooked, but without veering into overly dark territory. Georgina’s sleuthing is balanced with humorous moments, especially involving her dog, making the book lighthearted and enjoyable.

What makes this cozy mystery stand out is its strong sense of place and the interplay between Georgina and the other characters, especially DI Colin Bradshaw, who adds a hint of romantic tension. If you love Agatha Christie-style mysteries or shows like Midsomer Murders, "The Body in the Ice House" is a cozy read that will keep you guessing until the very end​. Five stars from this reviewer.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

This is a smashing read - read in one sitting and loved every page.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Meet Georgina Drake: professional photographer, novice gardener, and… amateur sleuth?

Yes I did love meeting up with Georgina again and I enjoyed this book as much as they last one. Again Georgina becomes involved in a murder when she finds the lady of the manor dead on the floor of Hartington Hall. This is a great cosy murder mystery and I enjoyed every minute of it. It had the murder, the suspense, the investigation and kept me guessing. Very entertaining and a great read.

Looking forward to read book three soon.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This second novel in a series is good: I had a lot of fun, appreciated the well rounded characters and the tightly knitted plot.
The solid mystery kept me guessing. It can be read as a stand-alone
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Book 2 in the Georgina Drake mystery series and another great read by this author. A book I really enjoyed and found hard to put down once I started.

The Body in the Ice House by Kate Hardy is the second book in the new Georgina Drake Mystery series and I loved it. It was a sweet cosy mystery book that was a joy to read.
This is a book for a cold rainy day, seating in front of a fire with a blanket over your knees with a hot chocolate drink.
This book has excellent characters and another great story, that will have you gripped from the beginning. This second book did not disappoint and was another 5 star read, just like Kate's first book.

A wonderful read. I highly recommend.

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the e-arc.

Georgina Drake or Georgie as she's known agrees to take pictures of Hartington Hall for a friend. Photographing the beautiful mansion is a treat for her until she enters the ice house and discovers a body at the bottom of the stairs. Everyone is unsettled by the accident but it soon turns into a murder investigation and the list of suspects keeps growing.
Georgina and her cast of friends are the friends you'd love for neighbours . I read this book and loved every minute. Thanks to Netgalley and Storm publishing I have now discovered a new author to me and she has turned into one of my favorites. If you love suspenseful cozy mysteries with a charming group of characters this is a must read.

I just finished reading the book. This is book 2 of the Georgina Drake series. I am looking forward to book 3! It is lovely—there is a lot of suspense, very nice quotations from books, and some classical music. The novel has several very fun dialogues.

A pleasantly entertaining book. I thought this was a regular mystery and so wasn't expecting a ghost but I quite enjoyed that addition to the norm. It added an interesting dimension to the usual crime read genre and was tactfully accomplished.
This obviously isn't the first book in the series and made references to previous events but they are explained within this book and so do not spoil this read but given the choice my preference would be to read the other book first.
The characters are well described and believable (even the ghost) and the pace of the book is good. I enjoyed it.

This is the second book in the Georgina Drake mysteries series, and I was looking forward to it, as I enjoyed the first one.

Cosy mysteries are one of my favourites, and this had all the comforting cosiness I hoped for. I felt some of the characters were a little bit eccentric, but that's often the case with cosy mysteries, and it adds to their charm.

I also felt as though I got to know Georgina better in this book, got to know more about the deeper side of her. This was a pleasant, relaxing cosy mystery read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

I am enjoying this series, older MC, great friends and English setting. The mystery kept me guessing.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. It is the second book about Georgina and her friends. A delightful story, set in Norfolk nas Georgie and her friends find a body in the ice House at the nearby Hall. As older ladies they have their own ideas about how to solve the mystery, whilst Colin the local DI and his team investigate. This story follows on nicely from The Body at Rookery Barn, although it is not necessary to have read it first. I love these characters and the ongoing mystery surrounding Doris.
Highly recommended to all those who enjoy crime fiction, but also those who enjoy a good read.

I really enjoyed this story. There were lots of different parts to it which all unravelled at the end. A great selection of characters who made the story come to life.

Widow Georgina Drake is a photographer who lives in an a small English village after the death of her husband two years ago. She was offered to photograph the historical Harrington Hall. The owners are wanting to open it up to the public so in comes Georgina. Georgina and her friendly ghost, Doris, who no one can hear but Georgina since she has new hearing aids. As she starts taking pictures she discovers a dead body at the bottom of the ice house. Who can it be? What happened? Again Georgina is right in the middle of a mystery. They call the police and her friend handsome DI Colin Bradshaw shows up. They investigate it and find it’s the Lady of the Manor, Karen Berry. The young second wife of the owner of they hall. Everyone is a suspect. Her step-daughters, her husband, the staff and her own daughter. She was not a well liked person. Anyone could have done it. Each have reasons to get rid of her. As Georgina takes her dog, Bertie on a walk during the interviews, he digs up some bones, and everyone wonders if this another murder? How old is the bones? Another mystery for Georgina to solve. As Georgina, who is an amateur sleuth tries to help solve the mystery, things start to happen. There are accidents, they find that things have been stolen and they slowly find out Lady Karen has secrets. Will they find the murderer? Who could have done that? Why? Will Georgina help DI Bradshaw solve the mystery? The characters are wonderful. What’s not to love with a cute dog, a friendly ghost who Georgina is trying to solve her death, a handsome DI and Georgina’s friends. If you love a good mystery, this one is for you. I couldn’t put the book down. Worth the read. I received this book for my honest review. I give it voluntarily

Second in the series finds main character Georgina working with her ghost to solve not one, but two untimely deaths!

The characters were well developed and generally relatable - I felt transported to the locations due to the wonderful descriptions of the scenery. Add a little love story, some familial dysfunction and some quirky characters to a mystery with a smidge of a ghost story and you've got a fun weekend read. I was thoroughly sucked into the novel, audibly gasping at some close calls. I always love when authors weave pets into their stories and this was no exception.

Thank you to NetGalley, Storm Publishing and Kate Hardy for the ARC copy! Available February 20, 2024.

Georgina has all the attributes of a cosy crime sleuth; she's curious and courageous, but what gives this story its uniqueness is her ability to communicate with Doris, the ghostly spirit currently resident in her house. Doris's tragic story is the subject of the first book in this engaging series. Visiting a historic country house, Georgina finds a body in the ice house, and then Burt, her spaniel, emulates his owner and finds human remains in the house's grounds. It's an absorbing locked room-style cosy mystery. The characters are believably complex, and the mystery has twists which keep you turning the pages. I like the romance between Georgina and Colin, the detective and the mystical relationship with Doris. It is a good balance of humour, mystery and poignancy. The characters draw you into this immersive tale.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

This is a delightful read in a lovely English setting with a likeable and intelligent protagonist (of a certain age), a wonderful cast of characters, and a well written mystery. I did not identify the murderer before the reveal. Georgina has become one of my favorite protagonists, and I enjoy watching her embrace her new life with a new business, a budding relationship with Colin, all the while maintaining her friendships with her female friends (living and dead} and investigating the occasional murder. I anxiously await my next visit with Georgina and friends.

Such a riveting read!
I soon became completely invested into this book, I love the characters and setting and the additional beyond the grave character adds an interesting element.
Georgina is an entertaining character and I enjoy watching the mystery unfold around her, and the additional historical murder case to solve alongside the current one was an excellent addition to the story.
A fantastic cosy mystery that was filled with fascinating historical information too. The perfect mix for me.

In "The Body in the House," Kate Hardy continues Georgina Drake's story in the second novel containing Drake's character. This time, she tries to solve the murder of a much-despised younger stepmother who ends up dead at the bottom of an ice house. She's joined by her "boyfriend" Colin, her ghost sidekick Doris, and her friend Sybbie.

Hardy does an excellent job with the process of solving a mystery. She details the research, the questioning, the websites, the genealogy searches, etc. In this aspect, I would like to see another book with Georgina Drake because Drake is a believable detective rather than one of those too-good-to-be-true detectives who know every small detail.

If I were to change anything, I would want the dialogue to be tighter and sharper. Some of the dialogue feels perfunctory and Hardy is so clever in other aspects that I wanted stronger dialogue. The romance between Colin and Georgina suffers a bit because of the dialogue. If Colin and Georgina continue as a couple in a third book, I want more impactful dialogue.

With that said, I enjoyed my time with "The Body in the Ice House" and I'm optimistic for a third Georgina Drake mystery.

This is such a cute series, I love it! I can't wait to see where Georgina & Colin's relationship goes! She should totally team up with him to be a crime-solving duo! I also can't wait for her to solve her resident ghost's murder.

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