The Icing on the Corpse: A Camilla MacPhee Mystery (Camilla MacPhee Mysteries) [Paperback]

Mary Jane Maffini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001

In the second Camilla MacPhee mystery, it's now forty below in Canada's capital, but victims' advocate Camilla is feeling the heat. When a savage serial batterer goes on the rampage looking for revenge against his former girlfriend, the terrified woman turns to Camilla and Justice for Victims for help. But a sudden change of fortune causes her client to really feel the chill. Camilla wades into the investigation, now one of murder, and gets a frosty reception from the police. Soon everyone connected with the case is either cooling their heels behind bars or trying to avoid cold storage in the morgue. Camilla's really skating on thin ice looking for this killer - literally.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

In the second Camilla MacPhee mystery, it's now forty below in Canada's capital, but victims' advocate Camilla is feeling the heat. When a savage serial batterer goes on the rampage looking for revenge against his former girlfriend, the terrified woman turns to Camilla for help.

About the Author

Mary Jane Maffini is a lapsed librarian and a mystery addict. She is the author of six Camilla MacPhee mysteries, two Fiona Silk adventures, five Charlotte Adams books, and nearly two dozen short stories. She holds two Arthur Ellis Awards for best mystery short story, as well as the Derrick Murdoch lifetime achievement award. Speak Ill of the Dead was shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award for best first novel and Lament for a Lounge Lizard for best novel. Mary Jane lives and plots in Ottawa.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Napolean and Co; First Edition edition (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929141814
• ISBN-13: 978-0929141817
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #535,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Capital Crimes in Canada, October 30, 2001

By 

Lou Allin - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Icing on the Corpse: A Camilla MacPhee Mystery (Camilla MacPhee Mysteries) (Paperback)

Victims' advocate Camilla MacPhee lashes on her skates and scoots across the Rideau Canal in her second Ottawa adventure, this time on the trail of a serial batterer. A sucker for a cause but nobody's fool, she organizes a group to "stand on guard" for the criminal's threatened girlfriend. As the capital city gamely dons toques and parkas to celebrate its annual Winterlude, a suspicious ice sculpture has the police knocking on doors. Suddenly Camilla finds herself enmeshed in a complex plot involving blackmail and murder, making tracks in her clunky Canadian Sorel boots and looking over her shoulder.
Along for the ride is her acerbic assistant Alvin, who beats the cold by transforming his apartment into a Florida beach complete with sand, Buffett music, and margaritas. Living up to her reputation as a deft hand at character and repartee, Maffini adds an unforgettable ally in the sherry-swilling Mrs. Parnell, who wields a walker like a grenade launcher. Meanwhile, assaulting her by cellphone and shopping sprees are Camilla's Learish family of sisters, the eldest about to be married and pecking at her to behave.
Maffini sets up a dessert tray of likely suspects with a plot as tasty and addictive as the festival's flaky cinnamon pastry known as bear paws. The windchill may be forty below, but the warmth and charm of this spunky heroine on her zany crusade will send the reader heading to the bookstore for the sequel.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Snappy dialogue & endearing characters, January 13, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Icing on the Corpse: A Camilla MacPhee Mystery (Camilla MacPhee Mysteries) (Paperback)

Mary Jane Maffini hails from Sydney, Nova Scotia and currently lives in Ottawa with her spouse and "various neurotic pets." A graduate of Dalhousie University, she is a former librarian who broke into writing via the publication of numerous short stories, which garnered many awards. Her short story fiction has appeared in: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Chatelaine, Storyteller, On-Spec, Over My Dead Body, as well as many anthologies. The Icing on the Corpse follows up the award winning Speak Ill of the Dead.

Camilla MacPhee, lawyer, embattled sister of three stiff-necked debutantes, and social crusader is once again on patrol as victim's advocate for Justice For Victims. One of her clients, Lindsey Grace, has just testified against Ralph Benning, ferocious wife batterer. But Canadian law put Ralph back on the streets in eighteen months. His first move was to revisit his former wife, who turns up dead. Camilla, her friend Merv of the Canadian Mounties, her rebellious and ever-surprising employee Alvin, and her elderly neighbor and Harvey's aficionado Mrs. Parnell rush over to help Lindsey. Somehow they all fall asleep, and Camilla's friend Elaine, Executive Director of "Women Against Violence Everywhere," ends up as primary suspect when Ralph's frozen body is found as an ice sculpture. Elaine rushes to confess to the murder that Camilla knows she didn't commit:

"As soon as it slammed shut, I turned to my alleged client. You're enjoying this.' Well, it is an opportunity. Think of the profile for WAVE. You know, Camilla, at first I thought we had a disaster but on sober second thought, I realize this will give us some major media coverage."

Ms. Maffini has honed her writing skills to a sharp point with The Icing On The Corpse. She juxtaposes Camilla's grim effort to solve the murder and save her friend against her hilarious efforts to deal with her sister's upcoming wedding and the issue of shopping for a bridesmaid dress. Using a skillful combination of snappy dialogue, endearing characters, and terrifying action, Maffini snares the reader from page one until the alarming denouement. Camilla stays in lovable character throughout the entire book, as women everywhere cheer her on.

Shelley Glodowski, Reviewer

5.0 out of 5 stars Double Meaning to "The Icing of the Corpse", June 27, 2010

By 

L. Rigod "avid mystery reader" (Nice, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Icing on the Corpse: A Camilla MacPhee Mystery (Camilla MacPhee Mysteries) (Paperback)

The title actally covers two incidents covered in this fully fast-paced novel set in Ottawa. Lawyer Camilla MacPhee must deal with her client's false imprisionment, but also her Sister's wedding. There is ice everywheres.

The main thing about these books are the down to earth humor used in all sorts of situations. The characters within these books are realistic and solid and so are the crimes.

Enjoy the entire series.