Icy Clutches (Hardcover)

by Aaron J. Elkins (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Physical anthropologist Gideon Oliver, earlier seen in Edgar-winner Old Bones , resumes his forensic sleuthing in this well-intentioned but wordy yarn. Having joined his wife on a professional junket to Alaska, Oliver is Johnny-on-the-spot when the survivors of a 1960 expedition discover bones. The leader, botanist M. Audley Tremaine, returns nearly 30 years later to unveil his book about the ill-fated trek to Tirku Glacier to the one other survivor, Walter Judd, and the relatives of those lost in an avalanche. But the remains of a skull found on the glacier reveal to Oliver that an ice pick had pierced it before the avalanche struck. Though Tremaine ostensibly hangs himself after hearing this news, Oliver suspects the scientist has been murdered. When Tremaine's manuscript and then the skeletal fragments are stolen, Oliver and the FBI have only the memories of Judd and the relatives to work with. The intrepid "skeleton detective" is nevertheless able to wrest the truth about the events on Tirku from its "icy clutches." But the repetitive scientific analysis and an overwrought narrative dull the novel's potential for suspense.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Trying to determine if some bone fragments found by Alaska's Glacer Bay belong to three avalanche victims from thirty years ago, detective Gideon Oliver encounters a killer who is determined to keep the past buried. Reissue. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 294 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Pr; 1st ed/1st printing edition (August 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892963778
• ISBN-13: 978-0892963775
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #640,736 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 6 in The Gideon Oliver Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of "Gideon Oliver", April 6, 2002

By	John R. Foulks (Pueblo West, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Icy Clutches (Paperback)

As soon as I stumbled on my first book by Aaron Elkins, I raced through all of his others. I love the type of mysteries surrounding a character like his Gideon Oliver; an academic and forensic anthropologist rather than a cop. All of the G.O. mysteries are set in interesting places, and all have a good dose of physical anthropology. This particular one is set near a glacier (which holds the mystery) in Alaska. And in terms of suspense, setting, and how the science was used to "crack the case", I think "Icy Clutches" is the best of the series. MUCH better than the somewhat dragging "Old Bones", the one which won an Edgar Award. If you like the mystery genre and want some reading that is quick yet satisfying, I recommend all the Gideon Oliver books; but especially "Icy Clutches".

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the Gideon Oliver Series, April 30, 2000

By	"steveb1573" (Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Icy Clutches (Paperback)

For those who have read the more recent additions to the Gideon Oliver series by Aaron Elkins, I highly recommend they go back to this title and read it. Or even reread it! It is the best of the series and a synthesis of all that works for Mr. Elkins. The story is set in Alaska, a glacial country of brooding cold skies and even colder ice. The plot is perfect, combining just the right amounts of human foibles and motive, geological factoids, and of course, forensic anthropology. And there is an air of menace which pervades the book like no other in the series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE ANSWERS LIE IN THE BONES, November 13, 2004

By	Loren D. Morrison "amateur_reviewer" (Los Angeles County, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Aaron Elkins, author of __ICY CLUTCHES__, has a background as a physical anthropologist among his other professions. (Novelist and Business Administrator to name two) In this novel, as in most of his others, he uses his background in all three to concoct a murder mystery which involves some newly found bones which are the remnants of members of a scientific mission who were killed in an avalanche 30 years ago.

Elkins's protagonist, Gideon Oliver, is "Johnny-on-the-spot" when some of those bones resurface as the result of the shifting of the glacier in which they were embedded.

Also present is the leader of that ill-fated mission, now a famous T.V. personality, and one of Television's grand poseurs. His main purpose in returning to the scene is to prepare the way for the publication of his forthcoming novel about the expedition and the deaths resulting from the avalanche. This preparation includes getting releases from all interested parties, so the remaining members of that ill-fated expedition, and the closest relatives of the deceased are along for the ride.

After the resurfacing of the bones, Gideon is able to determine that they belong to only two of the three victims, and that one of the two had been killed, not by the avalanche, but by being hit in the skull by an ice axe.

From here on, the plot speeds up a bit when "Mr. T.V. personality" is found murdered and his manuscript is missing. (The plot is a little slow during explanatons of the use of the bones for analytical purposes re: sex, size, identification of individuals, etc.)

The questions I'll leave you with, and which I hope will entice you to read __ICY CLUTCHES__, are:

Are the bones that were found those of the two men in the expedition, or of one of the men and the one woman?

Why was the manuscript stolen?

Why the present day murder?

Are the new murder and the 30 year old one related?

Who was the murderer 30 years ago, and who is the modern day murder, and are they one and the same person?

These are the questions that can only be answered by reading this novel. Happy reading!