I tend to not really get into mysteries, because I am usually not invested enough in the mystery to spot and extrapolate from the clues, so while the investigation is going on I'm kinda coasting. That's not a flaw in the genre, just a quirk in my tastes. So not too surprising that that this one didn't really grab me until it was getting to the reveal, which was convoluted enough to be kindof hard to believe, but fun anyway.
I thought it was strange that, when looking around for a memento, she chooses a plug of ice. Why choose a memento that will be plain water soon? Which made the reveal of the frog feel kind of forced.
I am curious whether an ice lens could actually act as a firestarter as described here. I mean, obviously a glass lens can, though you'd have to calculate the angles quite closely to be sure you are aiming at the proper kindling. But, I would think that freezing another layer of ice around it would warp the lens--to put ice around it you have to put water around it and then freeze it, obviously, but by putting water around it there will be some heat transfer between water and ice before the water gets frozen--it might work well enough to keep a frog in a recognizable shape, but I'm skeptical that the precise shape of the lens wouldn't be altered and mess up the focus of the lens. Also, I'm not sure that the lens would hold its shape well enough and long enough when focusing a beam of sunlight to actually start anything on fire--the lens must be melting at the same time.
Then again, I don't know any of these things are impossible. The only way to know is to try, I guess. Thanks, Ken, like I needed anymore projects.
