The Ice Pick Artist: A Carl Wilcox Mystery (Carl Wilcox Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Harold Adams (Author)

Book Description

Series: Carl Wilcox Mysteries | Publication Date: November 1, 1997

Harold Adams again brings life on the northern plains during the Great Depression into wild focus as Carl Wilcox returns to his hometown of Corden, South Dakota, in time to discover the body of a beautiful woman who has been murdered in her bed in her family's hotel. His investigation into the murder becomes increasingly complex as each lead takes Wilcox into the past of the blighted family tree of one of the most powerful clans in the state.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Company; First Edition edition (November 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802733107
• ISBN-13: 978-0802733108
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,977,137 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Each book in this series is better than the previous one, October 13, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ice Pick Artist: A Carl Wilcox Mystery (Carl Wilcox Mysteries) (Hardcover)

During the Depression, painter Carl Wilcox works at his family's Corden, South Dakota hotel because his father is ill. Three individuals, traveling separately, book rooms in the Wilcox Hotel. Lillybelle Fox is in Corden conducting research into the town's founders with an emphasis on Colonel Cutter. The next day, Lillybelle is found murdered and the other two guests (Murdoff and Olson) are gone.

Carl decides to investigate the killing by continuing Lillybelle's research in a hope that it will reveal a motive for murder. He quickly finds several people with an incentive for killing his guest and most of them start acting ugly towards the amateur sleuth. It seems that everyone has a secret, but especially wanting to keep quiet their clandestine past is a very powerful family with strong state-wide ties.

THE ICE PICK ARTIST is a superb historical regional mystery that brings to life the Depression in South Dakota. The who-done-it is fun and Carl is an intriguing character. Readers will taste the dust while driving all over the state in Carl's Model T. Harold Adams demonstrates why he is a Shamus Award winner with this tale that will have readers running to the used book stores for previous novels in the series.

Harriet Klausner

3.0 out of 5 stars A Disappointmnet, November 18, 2004

By 

Kevin Nelson "kevinandann2" (Orleans, Ontario) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ice Pick Artist: A Carl Wilcox Mystery (Carl Wilcox Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I am a big fan of the Carl Wilcox series and find them to be well written, interesting mysteries. In the case of "The Ice Pick Artist", I was diappointed. I found that the story went around in circles taking a great deal of time to arrive at the conclusion, which is odd for a relatively short book. Carl seems to be spinning his wheels and many of the characters are wooden. I guess it "can't be Nashville every night".

2.0 out of 5 stars My first by this author., May 13, 2002

By 

"bibliofiend" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ice Pick Artist: A Carl Wilcox Mystery (Carl Wilcox Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I'm not sure exacty what the author was trying to portray in this book. I didn't pick up on any particular train of thought where the protagonist, Carol Wilcox, was concerned. At one point, I almost lost track of the cast of characters, there were so many; and there didn't seem to be any real connection between this girl and Carl that would make him go traipsing all over the place trying to solve her murder. As for the murder storyline itself, it was somewhat adequate in keeping in line with the rest of the book. Nothing to write home about, that's for sure.