Miami crime reporter Britt Montero, the Cuban American with Latin passion and Yankee perseverance, gets involved with members of the Cold Case task force that"s reopened an old case involving the murder of a high school senior and the rape and near-death of his girlfriend, who"s now a sculptor with an unusual specialty--ice carving. Unmasking the killers requires Sunny Hartley"s cooperation, but even Britt"s blandishments can"t convince her to help the task force bring her attackers and her boyfriend"s murderers to justice. And it doesn"t help any that the head of the force, who has her own reasons for pulling her men off the investigation, seems to have something romantic going with homicide cop Kendall MacDonald, Britt"s old (but hardly forgotten) lover. As usual, Edna Buchanan delivers a denouement that"s full of bittersweet tricks and turns in this latest outing for her popular series heroine. --Jane Adams