Grace MacBride and the rest of the Monkeewrench gang are back. Grace and Leo Magozzi's daughter is doing well and everyone is besotted with her. Monkeewrench has been hired to investigate a security breach by a crypto-currency business place. Roadrunner and Harley set up a trap to back-track the hacker responsible for the breach. An avant-garde sculptor is selling sculptors and highly exploitive "art." The artist may, or may not, be a war criminal from the former Yugoslavia. Roadrunner meets an ICE agent who is searching for this war criminal when he saves her from hypothermia. She and Roadrunner understand the place childhood trauma can take in your life. When dead bodies start showing up in a frigid Milwaukee, Leo and his partner, Gino Rolseth, have to work overtime to find the murderer and how it all connects to long-past war crimes and the art world. Another fascinating read in this recommended series.

Ice Cold Heart by P. J. Tracy. First book that I have read in the Monkeewrench series. Very enjoyable read. Had no trouble connecting with the "good guys", their histories were well woven into the story without disrupting the flow and the action. The ultimate in creepy "bad guys" who were right there in plain sight but it took awhile to ferret them out. Felt the icy chill throughout with the extremely accurate description of the Minnesota winters. Will be looking into the back list titles of this series.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

I always enjoy the Monkeewrench series. They are filled with interesting characters that develop over time. The stories are well done and interesting. This particular story gave me nightmares. Literally. When a Balkan Wars criminal is traced to Minnesota, one of his victims, now an ICE operative enlists the aid of the Monkeewrench crew to help her find him. Horrors ensue. If you like books that increase your heart rate, this one is for you.

#IceColdHeart #NetGalley #Monkeewrench
Murder, gruesome art, mystery, war crimes, bitcoin fraud and cold weather greet readers in Ice Cold Heart, the 10th instalment of the Monkeewrench series.
For those, like myself, not in the know about Monkeewrench; it is a series written by mother-daughter writing team P.J. Tracy.
Grace MacBride, Annie Belinsky and their team use their knowledge and software to help solve crimes.
This was my first venture into this series, and I felt like I was missing some key things that only having read an entire series can give you; character dynamics, relationships and camaraderie that were all clearly established.
As predicted, the seemingly separate investigations merge into an action-packed finale.
There were some great elements, appropriately placed humour and decent mystery to keep readers reading.
Closer to a 3.5 star rating.

Ice Cold Heart – PJ Tracy

The Monkeewrench crew is back, as Leo & Gino face another challenging case…

It’s been a cold, brutal winter in Minnesota, so cold that even the criminal activity has been at a minimum. Leo Magozzi & Gino Rolseth and sitting in the homicide office discussing the weather when they are notified that a psychic has come to see them – to report a murder that hasn’t happened yet. At the same time, Gino’s wife, and Monkeewrench member Grace is hard at work in her own case. Hired to find and fix security system flaws after a Bitcoin heist, the Monkeewrench crew are hard at work finding ways to stop a cyber thief in his tracks – and Roadrunner has a chance encounter with a neighbor, an ICE agent, and ends up saving her life, not knowing that they will discover a mutual goal.

Meanwhile, a young woman with an interest in bondage has secured a willing teacher via the internet and is happily anticipating their meeting. With a dose of Ecstasy on board, she opens the door to a mysterious stranger, who handcuffs her to her bed – and then the script goes horribly wrong…

Leo & Gino catch the homicide and as the begin the research Kelly Ramage’s recent activities, they learn of up and coming artist Rado – a conceptual artist who sculpts some very disturbing images involving women in various states of BSDM. He currently has a gallery show in town, but the artist himself remains very reclusive and impossible to reach. And then another girl goes missing…

As Leo & Gino work their case, and the Monkeewrench team work theirs, they soon find some interesting connections, and Roadrunner’s desire to assist his newfound friend reveals even further commonalities, leading to one big case, that if solved, will have global implications…

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Monkeewrench novel, but it was like picking back up with old friends. Familiar characters, snappy dialogue, and a fast paced multi-faceted mystery made this book very hard to put down! I loved seeing Roadrunner’s character blossom with a love interest as well, and I can’t wait to see if Petra appears in later installments. A great read!! I highly recommend!!

Ice Cold Heart is an extraordinary story, truly one of the best of the Monkeewrench stories. The whole story includes so many improbably elements from a War criminal from the former Yugoslavia, an artist of violence against women, a dead woman, and all these holding parts of a story running into each other and members of Monkeewrench, during what can only be called a Polar Vortex, though that may only be Michigan, not Minnesota. Maybe it’s normal there. None of those are spoilers, only things that show up pretty quickly in the story.

It is thrilling to watch the development of the characters. The Monkeewrench crew has always been extraordinary, from their first story, but they only get deeper and more interesting. My favorites have always been Grace, Harley Davidson, Annie, and Roadrunner. Sometimes opening a book is like walking into a room of old friends. I have to say that this one made me a little nervous because it is the first complete one since the death of the mother of the writing team

Monkeewrench fans have no reason to worry about the loss of one member of the writing team, as sad as it is. The transition is pretty much seamless. As a mother and occasional editor. I found myself cringing at some of the wordiness.

I have read all of the books, so far, and have been lucky to get a lot of them as advance copies. The sad part of an advance copy is how much longer it is until the next edition. You know I will be looking for the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy.

A very brutal murder shakes the calm town. The murder of Kelly Ramage not only reveals infidelity but also a sinister secret and plot that has been going on long before.
In this thriller we follow the detectives and Moonkeewrench team as they join forces to uncover these secrets.

This is an entertaining read. The pace was somehow alow at first but in general I enjoyed it.

3.5 stars

Monkeewrench is working on securing Bit Monster, a bitcoin entity that has recently been the victim of massive hacking and theft. Meanwhile, Rolseth and Magozzi are searching for the killer of an upscale wife who is found to have been dabbling in a little S&M on the side. Before all is said and done, there are kidnappings, serial killings, and war crimes.

What I liked: I love visiting with the whole Monkeewrench gang. And this outing gives us a chance to get up close and personal with Roadrunner, and learn more of his backstory. There is also pretty neat little twist at the end that I should have seen coming, but didn't.

What I didn't: it is always hard, when a story has two separate protagonists (or in this case, two groups of protagonists), to find a reasonable to way to have them all working together. It is much better, in my opinion, for one group to simply ask the other group for help rather than "coincidentally" have their two cases actually be one case. And in this case, it is two separate coincidences that bring the cases together. It's Monkeewrench, so I will forgive them nearly anything, but I still found it disappointing.

Great book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Would definitely recommend this book to those readers who enjoy reading this author’s work.

A very interesting read . Twists and turns to keep you engrossed. Wondering which way the author is going to take it. Nice and easy to read. Flows well. Enjoyable to read

The Monkeewrench Gang is back. I love that the gang is still all together, but they are all moving in new directions. Grace and Magozzi have a beautiful baby, and Roadrunner gets a girlfriend. P.J. would be proud to see how her daughter has carried on without her.

Magozzi, Gino, and the Monkeewrench crew have their hands full in this case... P.J. Tracy never disappoints. While the crimes are gruesome, Magozzi and Gino – layer by layer – get to the truth... and in true Tracy fashion, everything starts to intersect.. It's so easy to stay up late with this book! . If you are a fan of this series, you're going to love this addition... if you're not currently a fan, you should be! It's full of dry humor, a very intriguing mystery, and maybe a little romance for one of my favorite Monkeewrench staffers. One of the best reads of the year!

I have loved the Monkeewrench gang (and Leo and Gino) since the beginning, when I was given an ARC of PJ Tracy's new book, Monkeewrench. Ice Cold Heart read differently right away, so much so, in fact, that after I finished I did a little internet surfing and learned, much to my dismay, of the passing of PJ Lambrecht.
Although the book flowed differently, the plot remained strong and there were the usual quips and humorous references to offset the brutality of the crimes in Ice Cold Heart. The characters continue to develop and morph and I"m happy to see that the Monkeewrench gang continues to work through their demons. I look forward to the next installment featuring the entire gang, including Leo and Gino. I will keep reading this fantastic series as long as Traci Lambrecht keeps writing it.

Another of the great Monkeewrench books. Our favorite geek squad is trying to find out who broke into a crypto currency company and stole a lot of money. As usual, their job over laps a case the Minneapolis police are working on. P J Tracy is great at writing about the weather in Minneapolis--I was cold most of the time I was writing this. A bit of a romance blooms between Roadrunner and a federal agent who is searching for a Balkan genocidal murder.

As always, I highly recommend the Monkeewrench series be read in order.

It's a bitter winter in Minnesota—too cold to kill. There hasn't been a murder for a month, but the lull quickly comes to an end for Detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth, when they're called to the gruesome homicide of Kelly Ramage. Found in a friend's vacant house, this was no random attack, and clues reveal that she was living a very dangerous secret life.



Thank you to net galley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book it was a great experience first time reading anything from this author

Stellar and amazing. I couldn't put the book down and was disappointed when it ended although everything was tied up nicely. I could tell there were previous books before this one that I hadn't read but anything I needed to know they told me without making it obvious or disjointed. Can't wait to read more.

I was really excited to see this new Monkeewrench title listed on NetGalley. More a police procedural than some of the earlier books in the series (I didn't feel the Monkeewrench portions of the book were as strong), but a very quick read, with some interesting twists. Nice to see Roadrunner's character stepping out of the shadows a bit, hope to see more of that in future. Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.

To be honest I'm not sure how I felt about this novel.

At times I thoroughly enjoyed it and the story drew me in but at other parts it completely lost me and it felt like a chore to read.

Personally I felt Petra's main story was completely unnecessary and truly didn't add anything to the novel. It didn't really explain the main suspects crimes from the past I thought and didn't delve well enough into her background to be of any importance. I felt like the author was trying to add another level of darkness but it just wasn't executed in the right way.

However, there were other parts of the story where I couldn't put the book down. It almost felt like two different authors were involved in writing this.

In my honest opinion the novel was alright.

P. J. Tracy's novel Ice Cold Heart offers a psychological thriller demanding detectives Magozzi and Rolseth's attention as gruesome homicides continue to occur. With a war criminal possibly involved and a drug ring, too, the plot thickens. Is a sadistic killer responsible for the unbelievable art displayed in the gallery and the murders? The detectives with a team of other interested parties try to resolve the conspiracies before more murders.

I just love the Monkeewrench crew! ICE COLD HEART has them exploring cybercurrency and murders associated with a particular controversial artist. Tracy has given a really interesting and educating read (I learned a lot about cybercurrency) with the usual cast of fascinating characters. I read this in the middle of my own Minnesota winter which brought the story even more to life. All of the monkeewrench books are great, so if this is your first, go back and the others! The first one is MONKEEWRENCH.