Sun 16 Dec 2012
Archived Review: ALINA ADAMS – Murder On Ice.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[7] Comments
ALINA ADAMS – Murder On Ice. Berkley, paperback original; 1st printing, Nov 2003.
What sport is more open to corruption (in terms of the judging) than figure ice skating? In terms of inside information, there is no one more likely to know than Alina Adams, also known in the real world as figure-skating expert Alina Sivorinovsky.
Here’s a quote from page 3:
And this was all even before the Italian judge turned up dead.
Television sports network 24/7 is there to cover the action, and working for 24/7 as a figure-skating researcher is Rebecca “Bex” Levy, in whose lap falls the task of determining whether Silvana Potenza’s death was an accident, or if the fact that she voted with the Eastern European countries against the skater from the U.S. had something to do with it.
Her investigation is something the skating federation would rather keep under wraps. From page 38, where she is talking to Gil Cahill, her executive producer:
“The more people will plant their eyeballs on all that ISU dirty laundry! Are you kidding me? Those droopy pinkies in the ISU are flaking in their sequined panties about the kind of dirt a real investigation could turn up!”
Politically correct, not. Adams also has a light touch that you could either find very amusing or wince at very easily. From page 114, as Bex’s investigation is starting to gain some headway:
I’m inclined to go with the former — amusing, that is — until the thought struck me, around page 168, that first time authors really should not write nearly 300 page novels the first time they author a book.
Humor is a tough commodity to maintain, in other words, and maybe I ought to be careful myself. The process of solving this case is also a matter of detection by gradual elimination, until there’s only one possibility left, and then Adams keeps you wondering because there is still plenty of book left when this crucial point in time occurs.
Overall, though, this is a better-than-average debut, and I recommend it, leaving open only the question, if this is to be a series (which it is), how many murder investigations in the rather insular world of figure-skating can there be?
The Figure Skating Mystery series —
1. Murder On Ice (2003)
2. On Thin Ice (2004)

3. Axel of Evil (2006)
4. Death Drop (2006)
5. Skate Crime (2007)
[UPDATE] 12-16-12. So the answer is five, which is more than I would have guessed at the time I wrote this review, and all in all, a pretty good run. For more on the author, including her other, non-mystery work, check out her website here.
December 16th, 2012 at 8:21 am
It really does go to show yet again how many of these series there are. I have to confess I’ve never heard of this one but I like the title AXEL OF EVIL with its play on words from Bush’s “Axis of Evil.”
December 16th, 2012 at 11:32 am
Jeff, You are right in pointing out how many series such as this one there were and still are. I used to try to keep up with them all, but I’ve had to give it up. This figure skating series is (was) a little different from most of the others, which are usually based on more mundane hobbies and activities, such as scrapbooking, quilting, cookie-making and so on. Those taking place in settings involving libraries, bookselling or collecting I may still buy, but I’ve begun to say that I have too many of those too. Overall I think the real tipping point for me was when books that are supposed to be detective fiction started to involve psychic and paranormal phenomena, such as fortune telling, palm reading and so on. Not for me, not for long, anyway,
December 17th, 2012 at 8:45 am
Thank you so much for the great review, Steve, and the link to my website.
Last year, I got the rights to all five of my skating mysteries back from Berkley, and have re-released them as enhanced e-books with video to compliment the story. Now my books aren’t just readable, they’re watchable, too.
Thanks again and have a great holiday!
December 17th, 2012 at 9:56 am
Alina
I’m glad you enjoyed the review.
I don’t read ebooks, and I probably never will, but it’s always good to hear about it when an author gets the rights back to their books and gives them another life in electronic form.
And in your case, they’re watchable too? Most interesting!
I’ll return the wishes for a great holiday season, for you and everyone.
— Steve
December 18th, 2012 at 8:00 am
Here’s the Amazon link, Steve.
December 21st, 2012 at 2:23 pm
Not a series I was familiar with, but the setting seems interesting. I’m also not an ebook reader, but may seek out a used copy of one of these.
December 21st, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Oops, I see my old information is on the last comment. This one is corrected.