The Blue Ice vs The Candidate Coroner: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Thriller

The Blue Ice Hammond Innes · 1948 ★★★★☆ 3.8 246 pages · ≈ 4 h 33 m · Challenging

Ten years after George Farnell's disappearance, two lines of poetry and a lump of mineral ore are found. It's enough to send mineral expert Bill Gansert to Norway. But word of his findings has leaked out and Gansert…

Fiction

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The Candidate Coroner Paul Austin Ardoin · 2019 ★★★★☆ 4.4 485 pages · ≈ 8 h 59 m · Moderate

Two contentious elections. One dead philanderer. A monumental conspiracy.Acting coroner Fenway Stevenson has barely caught her breath when another high-profile murder rocks the coastal town of Estancia. The victim: a…

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Side by side

The verdict

Readers rate The Candidate Coroner highest: The Candidate Coroner 4.4 · The Blue Ice 3.8.
The Blue Ice is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 8 for The Candidate Coroner.
The Blue Ice has the widest readership — 449 ratings behind its score.

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How to choose

Want a one-evening read? The Blue Ice ≈ 4h vs 8h for The Candidate Coroner Just want the better-reviewed one? The Candidate Coroner 4.4 vs 3.8 from readers New to the genre? The Candidate Coroner Moderate vs Challenging for The Blue Ice

Scores by source

	The Blue Ice	The Candidate Coroner
Goodreads	3.8 (449)	—
Hardcover	4.0 (3)	4.4 (5)
Apple Books	—	4.5 (115)
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Reception

	The Blue Ice	The Candidate Coroner
Ratings	449	115
Editions	30	2
Film adaptations	1	—
Want to read	179	—
Reading it now	59	—
Written reviews	31	—
Wikipedia attention	46	—
Pages	246	485
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Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: The Blue Ice or The Candidate Coroner?

The Candidate Coroner has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Candidate Coroner 4.4/5, The Blue Ice 3.8/5).

Which is shorter to read: The Blue Ice or The Candidate Coroner?

The Blue Ice is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Blue Ice (246 pages, ≈ 4 h 33 m); The Candidate Coroner (485 pages, ≈ 8 h 59 m).

Which is harder to read: The Blue Ice or The Candidate Coroner?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Blue Ice: Challenging; The Candidate Coroner: Moderate.