The Ice House -- Minette Walters

The residents of Streech Grange are enjoying a quiet and leisurely lunch when the gardener informs them that he's found a body in the ice house.

"Does the door open any wider, Fred?"

"It does, madam.  I had it full open before I stepped on what's in there.  Pulled it to as far as I could when I left in case anyone came by."  He pursed his lips.  "To tell you the truth, it's wider now than when I left it."

He walked forward reluctantly and, with a sudden movement, kicked the door.  It swung open on creaking hinges.  Phoebe crouched and shone the torch into the interior, bathing the contents with warm golden light.  It wasn't so much the blackened and eyeless corpse that caused her to vomit, as the sight of Hedges rolling quietly and purposefully in the decomposing remains of the bowels.  He came out with his tail between his legs and lay on the grass watching her, head between paws, as she heaved her tea on the grass.

Gross, right?  That description really got me, more so than anything I've ever read in books that are generally considered much ickier.

Anyway. 

Chief Inspector Walsh, the officer who heads up the investigation, is very familiar with the residents of Streech Grange.  Ten years previously, Phoebe's much-hated husband disappeared.  Phoebe was Walsh's prime suspect, but a body was never found and the case was never solved.

So.

Pretty awesome.  The characters really came alive for me -- they were complicated and dynamic, smart and witty (well, some of them) and for the most part, likable.  The plot twisted and turned so much that I didn't see anything (except the romance) coming until it actually happened, and the book followed both the movements of the police and the suspects.  Good one.

I have a copy of The Sculptress on the way -- from what I've read, it sounds COMPLETELY different, but I'm really, really, really looking forward to it.