This was one roll coaster of a ride. It seemed like most of the characters I have grown to love in the series where in harms-way this time. I was praying that nothing bad would happen to anyone. Then the ending! Oh the ending.... gees I can't stand it. I have got to read the book now! ( )

This is the ninth book in the Scottish crime series featuring Detective Chief Inspector Jack Logan.

In this episode, the Major Investigations Team travels during a wintery prelude to Christmas to Alness, a small town in the Highlands some 15 miles north of Inverness. A body has been found buried in the snow, and it first appears as if someone had just gotten drunk, collapsed, and frozen to death overnight.

They soon discover, however, that the victim had been murdered some time before being placed in that location. Moreover, the killer’s m.o. was identical to that of a serial killer they thought had died by suicide five years earlier. That person, calling himself the Iceman, chose victims who had run-ins with the law at some point, but never faced any punishment - they had all had been found Not Proven or Not Guilty. The Iceman seemed to be “a sort of psychotic Robin Hood figure, slaying the guilty so that the innocent could sleep more soundly in their beds.”

And now he was back.

The team, made up of Detective Inspector Ben Forde, Detective Sergeant Hamza Khaled, Detective Constable Tyler Neish, Detective Constable Sinead Bell, and Constable David Davidson work to find connections among the people associated with the dead. As they close in, the danger to them increases, and it is unclear up until the very end if any or all of them will survive.

Olivia Maximuke, 13, and the daughter of a criminal the team put behind bars, also features large in this book, as she inadvertently gets in the way of the Iceman. The danger to Olivia is perhaps the most disturbing part of this story, in a book full of scary moments, twists, and tension.

Evaluation: This book continues to delve into the personal relationships of the team and of Olivia, who has become connected to them, and Bob Hoon, their former chief. This series is addictive for those who appreciate thrillers. ( )

The DCI Logan series is one of the best series I have read. Has it all - drama, laughs, murder and comradeship. This book, A Snowball's Chance in Hell, is no exception and was a wonderful read. A few twists and turns, and just clever writing. Look forward to the next book. ( )