Death in the Time of Ice (People of the Wind Mystery #1) by Kaye George

Death in the Time of Ice (People of the Wind Mystery #1) Reviews

• 
  Jacqui

  Georgia Kaye's historic fiction "Death in the Time of Ice" is an engrossing story about life in a Neanderthal tribe: how they communicate, hunt, and live in a community. It revolves around one of two twins (Ung Strong Arm and Enga Dancing Flower) as she grows to adulthood, seeks a mate, hunts to save her tribe, and loves her twin sister dearly. A mammoth hunt, critical because the tribe is starving, ends badly when sister Ung is gored and the tribe's leader is murdered. The tribe has no experience with members killing other members or solving such a crime, but this doesn't stop Enga as she struggles to find clues, unravel their meaning, and get anyone in the tribe to listen.
  
  This is an exciting immersion into Neanderthal culture (intriguing to me because I'm an armchair investigator of earliest man) with a few interesting differences from anything I've ever read:
  
  * They communicate with thoughts not words or hand gestures.
  * Women are more powerful than men.
  * The youth of the tribe have considerable influence over group decisions.
  
  The author does a wonderful job of portraying this struggling group's hunger and desperation as they fight to survive in an impending and deepening Ice Age world where their primary sources of food are disappearing. It is well-plotted, nicely-paced with intriguing characters that are believable as part of man's primal past. It is written in a simple straightforward style reminiscent of Bonnye Matthews' "Ki'ti's Story". Recommended for those interested in a peek into primeval life.
  
  --received this free as part of the #MysteryThrillerWeek activities. Mystery Thriller Week (February 12-27) is a celebration of mystery and thriller writers, showcasing their work, offering it free for reviews, and cheering the success of authors. It also offers a competition (with prizes) for the best 300-word hook on an upcoming or current mystery or thriller.
• 
  Edith Maxwell

  I fell in love with this book. I have read all of Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear books and at first I thought this might be too similar to those. But it isn't except in being a really good read about a culture we have no personal experience with. Kaye George draws a deep and interesting Neanderthal community whose members communicate by thoughts and who have to deal with hunger, the strange Tall Ones, and the usual emotions of love, revenge, and envy. The mystery of who killed the clan's leader weaves throughout the book. I highly recommend this read.
• 
  Winter

  3 Stars
• 
  Philip Newey

  Death in a Time of Ice by Kaye George is a very modern tale set within a Neanderthal Tribe (the Hamapa) some thirty-thousand years ago, on the verge of the last ice age. It tells of the struggle of this tribe to maintain social cohesion amid the ongoing pressures of climate change, which brings about a shortage of game and a lengthening of the winter season. To these external pressures are added the internal pressures of rivalry, jealousy, and bigotry. It is for this reason that I call it a modern tale: the social challenges and emotional journeys of these people are very modern, despite their temporal and genetic differences from modern Homo sapiens. There are coming of age stories and love stories within this overall setting. There are young adult elements to the story, in that many of the main protagonists are adolescents, struggling to find their place and role within the tribe.
  
  This is true of none more than Enga and her twin Ung, who are outsiders adopted by the tribe when they were very young. Many within the tribe take a long time to accept them as integral members of the tribe; some never do. Another outsider is the New One (later Stitcher) who is a member of the Cro-magnon race rather than the Neanderthal race (at least partly).
  
  The novel follows several characters, but most closely Enga and Jeek. Jeek is a young man, not much liked by the other young men of the tribe, but clearly intelligent and prepared to ‘think outside the box’. The tribe faces many tragedies, including the murder of its female leader, the Hama, the loss of one of its elder males through injury, and injuries to other members of the tribe. Through it all runs the question of who killed the former Hama and why. Suspicion falls on several member of the tribe, but is often directed towards ‘outsiders’. Enga, often facing the resentment and mistrust of other members of the tribe, leads the quest to identify the Hama’s murderer.
  
  The characters are interesting and complex, although sometimes their behaviour and responses to events border on being predictable and stereotypical. On the other hand, perhaps this is not surprising within such a tribal setting. The author makes an effort to see both the good and the bad within the characters (perhaps labouring this point a little too much and a little too obviously in the closing chapters). Given the difficulties faced by the tribe, I wondered at times about Enga’s preoccupation with finding the killer of the Hama. There seemed more pressing issues to deal with. I also wondered why suspicion did not fall on one character in particular, given that he later does harm two other members of the tribe. It would have seemed an obvious conclusion to draw. Having said that, this character’s motivation for harming these others remains obscure to me.
  
  One brief note: at the end of the book the author justifies, on artistic grounds, locating the story in North America. In my mind the story remained firmly rooted in the European landscape, despite this. I would never for a moment have though that it was set in North America apart from this comment, and can think of no good reason why it needed to be.
  
  I enjoyed this story, and was satisfied with the way the threads were drawn together at the end. The story ends on an optimistic note. This dissatisfied me slightly, since the story is set near the end of the era of the Neanderthals, and the future of not just this tribe but the entire species is rather bleak. I thought that a reminder of this—perhaps as an epilogue—would have been appropriate. Earlier in the story some members of the tribe witness an encroaching glacier. The tribal memories retain stories of a previous ice age. I would have concluded with a rather menacing reminder of the advancing ice. But maybe I am just a bit nasty that way. I give this four stars.
  
• 
  Beth

  A murder mystery set in a hypothetical prehistorical time in which Neanderthals lived in what is now North America, Death in the Time of Ice presents the reader with an interesting backdrop for a classic murder mystery and proves that crime is as old as time itself.
  
  The main character is Enga Dancing Flower, who believes that she and her sister are valued and accepted members of their adopted tribe, until the tribe’s beloved leader is found murdered. Suspicion, and superstition, cause accusations to be thrown at most tribe members, but especially on Enga because of her outspoken belief that the leader was murdered by one of them instead of an outsider, as the tribe would like to believe.
  
  In addition to the murder, Enga’s tribe must deal with electing a new leader, the scary prospect of moving their village to better hunting grounds, personal injuries and natural disasters.
  
  The book offers a gloriously detailed and innovative imagining of prehistory and prehistoric customs (the tribe do not communicate verbally; they mind-read), along with a satisfying murder plot, several conspiracies, and a few romances. It was an engrossing read, and I would follow the characters on through other books if the author decides to make a prehistoric series.
  
  I would recommend Death in the Time of Ice to anyone who, as I did, enjoyed the Jean M. Auel Earth’s Children series, or who would like to savor a good whodunnit set in a completely new surrounding.
  
  I received a copy of Death in the Time of Ice in exchange for a review.
• 
  Sara

  I'm not sure why this is called a mystery. Yes, somebody is murdered, but there's hardly any investigating done, and the culprit is incredibly obvious from the moment the victim is found. Most of the book is spent on figuring out how the Neanderthals are going to survive the winter, which is a big enough problem because they are reluctant to hunt anything other than mammoth. These are picky Neanderthals who "detest" anything that's not meat and, up until they become desperate, seem to consider any animal smaller than a mammoth not worth their hunting time. Both of these problems (the mystery of the murdered leader and the need for food) are resolved by an act of nature, requiring very little effort from the characters themselves, which makes the ending feel less triumphant and more "well, I'm glad all that's over and done with."
• 
  Amber Foxx

  Neanderthals, in this original and fast-moving tale, live in small bands led by an elected female chief. They have abilities we lack, traits that author Kaye George imagined as possibilities due to their larger brain size. She handles this fictional world with such deftness, I immediately fell into the rhythm of the characters’ “thought-speak” and accepted her well-researched speculations about the lives of our very ancient ancestors. * George believably creates her fictional tribe’s culture, customs, religion, language and the sagas their story-teller uses to give meaning to crucial moments in the life of the struggling band.
  
  In the Hamapa tribe, women are considered the only ones patient enough to be spear-throwing hunters. Considering the powerful build of Neanderthals, I can easily imagine the women having this skill. I occasionally marveled at some of the physical feats the characters achieve, but then, I remembered: they’re Neanderthals. They are stronger than us. Not only were their brains were different from ours, so were their bodies.
  
  The tension of the story depends as much on the challenges of hunter-gatherer life in an encroaching ice age where giant mammals roam as it does on solving the murder of a cherished leader in a close-knit community. I say this as a compliment: this book doesn’t stick to the formula for a murder mystery in a setting where to do so would be unrealistic. Enga Dancing Flower, the protagonist—like most of the young women of her tribe—is a hunter. Her patience and skill help her solve the mystery. If you like strong female leads, you can’t find one stronger. One of the things I loved about this book is that the characters are free from confining gender roles as we know them.
  
  Death in the Time of Ice could be enjoyed as historical fiction by readers who aren’t normally mystery fans. I read both genres, and this book succeeds as an innovative blend. It didn’t feel like a whodunnit in mammoth skins, but like a genuine and natural story for its setting. Understandably, it takes the author years to research and create a new book in this series, so there is only one other so far,
  Death on the Trek. I bought it the day I finished this one and am definitely going to read it.
  
  * Neanderthals are not everyone’s ancestors. Asians and Europeans have 1% to 4% Neanderthal DNA. Indigenous sub-Saharan Africans don’t. Modern humans apparently migrated out of Africa and met Neanderthals and made babies with them. It’s possible this is how Neanderthals “died out.” They gradually blended into the general hominid population.
  
• 
  Leoma Gilley

  Death in the Time of Ice is an interesting read. The setting is totally unfamiliar, as it is set in the time of the Neanderthals. I found it interesting that the author chose to make this community, the Hamapa, a matriarchy. The women do the hunting, the men do the carrying. The women choose the mates, the men must wait to find favor. The Most High Female is clearly the leader and holds a lot of power, though there are two men who also make up the team for leadership.
  
  Another fascinating aspect of the book is the use of mental telepathy to communicate, something perhaps women continue to wish men could understand. When a word is spoken, then it has great significance. Colors are used to reveal or hide thoughts. The darker the color, the more hidden the thought. It was not clear whether the Neanderthals were able to speak, but as their brains were larger than modern man, the author decided to use telepathy as the primary means of communication.
  
  When most of the women hunters are disabled for one reason or another, the tribe becomes very desperate for food, as they live on meat and detest vegetables. Men are not allowed to throw a spear, and this creates some tension.
  
  As the Ice Age is coming upon them, they discover other people groups have either vanished or are about to starve to death. It is critical that they find enough food to get them through the Cold Dark Time, or they will follow in the fate of their neighbors.
• 
  Kassandra Lamb

  This is a rather unusual mystery. Think Clan of the Cave Bear meets Nancy Drew.
  
  Enga Dancing Flower is a young Neanderthal woman who discovers the body of her tribe’s leader, who was also her own foster mother.
  
  The author does a good job of world-building, drawing the reader into the tribe’s story, including the in-fighting and disruption caused by the loss of their leader and their desperate quest for food as the Ice Age approaches. When Enga herself is accused of the murder by the new leader and banished from the tribe, she becomes even more motivated to find out what really happened.
  
  There are several interesting twists near the end, and a satisfying ending. I have downloaded Book 2 to continue to follow Enga’s saga, and I understand Book 3 is in the works. I recommend Death in the Time of Ice with 4 ½ fingerprints.
• 
  Arthur Stewart

  Told largely from the perspective of Enga Dancing Flower, a young member of a small tribe of Neanderthals that was under stress from the start of an ice-age, something like 50 to a hundred thousand years ago. Life was hard, and getting harder; they had fire, but only very primitive tools—flint spear-tips and knives. Game was becoming sparse, and fearful hunger came. Amidst these troubles, the leader of the tribe was murdered in her sleep. Who did it? Why? And how did the tribe respond? These questions needed to be addressed by the tribe, which by then was near the fracturing point. A fine story, a good plot-line, strong insight and excellent imagery. Recommended! My only difficulty with the book was in keeping up with the names!
• 
  Cyn Taylor

  I was drawn into the story of this people from page one. I loved their way of communicating and never wondered who was speaking. The characters were well defined and broad based. Loved that the author used science analogies to support the story. The mystery stayed true to the end and the ending was happy and well done. Anxious to read book two.
• 
  Gowri N.

  A murder mystery set in prehistoric times: how much more niche can it get? Yet, there are books in this genre getting written every year: this is one of the good ones.
• 
  Sara G

  This was fun but the formatting along with he whole telepathy thing made it so clunky and tiresome to read. A very serviceable small community mystery.
• 
  Nancy Jarvis

  It's late afternoon and I'm still in my pjs because I couldn't stop reading long enough to get dressed. What fun for me who loved "Clan of the Cave Bear" and a good mystery.
• 
  Debra Goldstein

  Prehistoric but timely. George's research and attention to detail is evident throughout the book , but never bog down the fast pace or involved plot. Good job all around.