The Blue Ice vs The Woman at Number 19: 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 Woman at Number 19 J. A. Baker ★★★★☆ 3.8 288 pages · ≈ 5 h 20 m · Moderate

This summer's must-read psychological thriller from bestselling author J.A. Baker.Esther lost her husband, Julian, and her children, Harriet and Dexter, in a car accident and is struggling with her grief.Spurred on by…

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Side by side

The verdict

Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
The Woman at Number 19 has the widest readership — 3091 ratings behind its score.
The Woman at Number 19 runs the darker storyline; The Blue Ice stays the lighter read.

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How to choose

New to the genre? The Woman at Number 19 Moderate vs Challenging for The Blue Ice In the mood for something dark? The Woman at Number 19 a darker storyline than The Blue Ice Want something lighter? The Blue Ice an easier tone than The Woman at Number 19

Scores by source

	The Blue Ice	The Woman at Number 19
Goodreads	3.8 (449)	3.8 (3091)
Hardcover	4.0 (3)	4.0 (1)
Apple Books	—	3.5 (22)
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Reception

	The Blue Ice	The Woman at Number 19
Ratings	449	3091
Editions	30	—
Film adaptations	1	—
Want to read	179	1483
Reading it now	59	1326
Written reviews	31	231
Wikipedia attention	46	—
Pages	246	288
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Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: The Blue Ice or The Woman at Number 19?

The Woman at Number 19 has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Woman at Number 19 3.8/5, The Blue Ice 3.8/5).

Which is shorter to read: The Blue Ice or The Woman at Number 19?

The Blue Ice is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Blue Ice (246 pages, ≈ 4 h 33 m); The Woman at Number 19 (288 pages, ≈ 5 h 20 m).

Which is harder to read: The Blue Ice or The Woman at Number 19?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Blue Ice: Challenging; The Woman at Number 19: Moderate.