I really want to have a house in windhelm but I can't because of the quest 'blood on the Ice' dosent want to start. How would I start this quest? I have tried before so many times before 1.5 update but nothing. Tried after 1.5 but still nothing. How do you start the quest? I am on Xbox by the way.

It's supposed to start the 3rd time you enter the city. If it fails to start after that, you could try breaking into Calixto's house and look in his chest on the upper floor to see if there are any "beware of the butcher" fliers. If so, there is some old lady that wanders the streets and stays in the main inn (can't remember her name right now). She's the one who made the fliers and gets the quest going. Try talking to her with one of the fliers in your inventory and see if she gives you any options to open the questline up.

If you can't find any fliers in Calixto's house (can't remember if there are any there or not), you should still be able to purchase Hjerim before completing the quest; you just won't be able to renovate it until afterwords. After purchasing Hjerim, search around and find all of the clues. Find a flier and take it to the old lady like I said above.

If none of this works, you'll probably have to start a new save to do this quest.

There are a lot of things that can go wrong with this quest. Your best bet is going to search the crap out of it. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim%3aBlood_on_the_Ice is a good start. Also, do not do any civil war quests as they seem to cause a lot of problems with this and other quests.

I don't know how true this is but I have found people saying to leave and re-enter Windhelm from other holds four (4) times. Sounds odd to me but I have seen stranger.

This is true. I've done it multiple times.

I have done entering the city 3 times at night soooo many times but nothing happened (done that 4 times entering and leaving) I always checked the cementary but nothing is there. I broke in to Calixtios house and found the Chet but its locked and I can't get to it if I have no key.

Also I found tova this lady being dead and she had a key to hjerim but the key has vanished and she isn't there.

I have done the civil war too, sided with stormcloacks

It sounds like the quest has already started if Tova is dead already. You're supposed to talk to the guard watching over her body to get the quest going. Try talking to any of the guards walking around and see if they'll give you the quest.

I'm pretty sure that you can steal Calixto's key from his inventory and gain entry that way. If you're not much of a pickpocket, I would try to purchase Hjerim and search inside there for the fliers.

But I can't buy hjerim because the Stewart says there was some unpleasenants lately and nothing happens. And I haven't seen caliexto, do where is he around? I might pickpocket him to get the key and about lock picking I am the best at it as I got unbrakable perk so I have no problems with it.

Tova isn't a victim. The lady in the graveyard is Susanna. Tova kills herself in her house after the player does a DB optional contract and kills her daughter. She also carries the key to Hjerim so it can be either looted or taken from her, depending on is she alive or not.

To the OP, you should travel to another capital city, and fast travel to Windhelm from there. It worked for me, even before the latest patch.

Yes, you're right.. my bad.

But I thought that Tova would only kill herself if both of her daughters were dead? I killed her daughter for the DB, but saved the other one before Calixto could kill her at the end of Blood on the Ice and Tova is still walking around "in mourning".

Where could I locate calixtio and pickpocket his key?

That's how it worked for me on my last run-through. Be sure to chat to Susanna at the inn on the previous occasions. She'll recommend the gray Quarter bar. Oh, and based on comments in a similar thread, I did the quest differently this time. I went the Calixto route, but he locked up his shop. I picked the lock and he hollered at me to get out. I waited until he attacked (I got a whopping 5g bounty, lol) then stepped outside and sheathed my weapon. He became all rosy and cheerful then, so I sold him the amulet. I wonder if the other route of simply going back to Jorlief and his jumping to the conclusion that it was the court mage, Wuunferth, whodunnit is a bug. Certainly the guards are friendlier now.

Did you not pay attention to anything? Both daughters are dead if you kill the one in Blood on the Ice, hence the kin murdered family warhammer stolen thing that guards say.

Alright so I got hold oh his key, ad got the butchers journal. Quest didn't start. What now?

Friga technically doesn't exist as an NPC because she is scripted as dead in the game, Nilsine is the one you kill in the DB.
You couldn't have saved her in the end since she's not even there, I think it's Arivanya (the Altmer at the stables) who's the save-able victim.

I had similar problem too. But there is old woman walking talking about the victums.

You had? That means you have hjerim? How did you fix it? I am on Xbox?

Anyone?

Did you talk to the old woman while having the Beware the Butcher pamphlets in your inventory?

I never had any pamphlets, just 'butchers dairy' from this guys chest.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Beware_the_Butcher!

Viola Giordano is the lady's name, she is out and about and also in Candlehearth. Perhaps you aren't to the part where they become available.
Also, there are 2 butcher's journals!

You should definitely be able to buy Hjerim before starting Blood on the Ice or even during. You'll need the pamphlets from Hjerim to get the quest going, I think. After you have the pamphlets, talk to the old woman wandering around town and in the main inn. She's usually talking about the butcher.

This is a list of all of the ways to initiate the quest from wikia:


To initiate this quest, the Dragonborn must travel to Windhelm at around midnight. The Dark Brotherhood questline has been started or completed, it could hinder the possibilities of starting this quest.

• In the graveyard, there will be several people gathered around a female corpse. The guard will approach the Dragonborn and start a conversation that leads to the initiation of the quest. To get to the graveyard, one should turn left at the entrance to the city, go through the archway, make the first right and go down the steps behind the Blacksmith.
  
  • Buying the house http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Hjerim in Windhelm will also start this quest.
    
  • Another way to start the quest is to steal the key to Hjerim from http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Tova_Shatter-Shield and enter the house. When one of the fliers located on a small dresser is taken, the quest will start at step 9.
• After questioning the three nearby witnesses, the Dragonborn should talk to the guard again.
  
• In order to be granted permission to help the investigation, the Dragonborn must visit http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Jorleif, and then return to the guard.
  
• Inside the http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Hall_of_the_Dead, the Dragonborn should speak with http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Helgird.
  
• If the Key to Hjerim (purchased or pickpocketed) is in the possession of the player, the house can be entered to skip to step 9; otherwise, rfollowing the trail of blood in the crime scene will lead to http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Hjerim.
  
• Advice should be sought by speaking to Jorleif.
  
• Entering the house can be done by picking the lock or receiving a key from the http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Tova_Shatter-Shield, http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Friga_Shatter-Shield's mother.
  
• All of the furniture that can be investigated should be.
  
  • The http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Butcher_Journal from the bloody chest up against the wall on the left of the entrance should be taken. The wardrobe on the right in the northwest room of the house will have a hidden door leading to an altar.
    
  • From the altar, http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Butcher_Journal#2 can be found.
    
  • The http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Strange_Amulet and pamphlets from the small dresser just next to the secret door should also be acquired. The amulet is hidden under the pamphlets.
• Jorleif will provide the player with information, suggesting to talk to http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Calixto_Corrium and http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Viola_Giordano.
  
• The Strange Amulet can be shown, and eventually sold, to http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Calixto_Corrium. He will inform the Dragonborn that it belongs to the court mage. The amulet is needed in order to accuse the court wizard, although it is recommended to sell it or it will remain in the inventory indefinitely after the quest is completed.
  
• http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Viola_Giordano is often found in http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Candlehearth_Hall. She can't be talked to unless a copy of the "http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Beware_the_Butcher" pamphlet is in possession, or if she's dead or missing. If the journal has been picked up the journal before talking to her in the house, it can be dropped and picked back up in front of her to continue the accusation quest line.

If none of that works, I would recommend just going around town and talking to every last person. If that doesn't work, it's probably not going to start and you'll need to start a new save to do it.

Also, I recommend reading the wikia page on this quest. There are a lot of bugs that can prevent it from starting/being completed correctly, so you should read through them to try and prevent it from happening again.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Blood_on_the_Ice

But I think she had been killed by someone or I killed her, as people say that in the DB you assassinate her or something. I forgotten it. What do I do now?!

The other thing that has happened to me that I have gotten hjerim key from Tova because she was dead, but I entered the hjerim because I didn't know what to do, and left. Now I can't get back in hjerim because it says I need a key for it.

People said that I triggered the quest by picking the key up, and I haven't talked to the guards about it.

I've edited my post above a couple of times. Did you read through the list of things you can do to initiate the quest?

I did read them. As I previously stated that I got tovas key for hjerim but somehow it vanished from my inventory. Is there anyway to make it unlock able by lockpicks?

Thank you guys for trying to help me, web though I am failing. Apparently someone said one of those shatter shield clan guys have the key in their inventory...