I always hear dialogue about how two women were murdered in Windhelm and how the killer is still on the loose, and I've been wondering, does that ever go anywhere? Does it ever become a quest or is it just dialogue? I think a murder mystery would be fun in Skyrim.

zomg

go to the cemetary in windhelm if it's not too late... if there's a guard with suzanna the wicked's body then you're not too late... offer to help investigate.

the butcher is killing women in windhelm.

let me warn you, this is a two part very picky quest chain, and yes... it's definately a full chain.

Yes it does, visit the graveyard at night and (if youre lucky) it should trigger. Be warned though, its a really buggy quest.

ninja'd.

How so?

It's a shame that yes, this is quite a big quest chain. I personally can not give a flying farkas about any wretched person in that horrible dirty city, so I guess the guards are on their own with this one.

At almost every step. I recommend reading up on it before you start. Wiki/UESP, as long as you dont mind it spoiling the end for you.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Blood_on_the_Ice
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Blood_On_The_Ice

I'd rather it be a surprise, so I guess I'll save often?

Very often. And make a completely separate save before you start, that you dont save over until youre sure youve completed it correctly. And if you can, do the whole thing in one go, to cut back on the time lost if you have to reload that save. Not trying to freak you out, but it might help.

Hiya guys, i just joined the forum and wanted to just get this out here and see if anyone has help (btw it does lead to a quest but ive heard it is very buggy)

Okay my problems

1-It tells me to get advice from the steward, i do but it never goes away
2-Viola (The person who put those "Beware of the Butcher" Posters) is dead. (So im unable to advance further i have #1 and #2 journels (The butcher's) and i have already obtained and sold the "Strange amulet" to the weird old dude that buys it. Ive heard i now need to go to Viola (Who is dead). So am i stuck? i dont have a save file i can reload eather =(

Welcome Codespeed.
The 'get advice' thing is normal.
Try talking to the wizard in the palace. Wuunferth (sp?) His room is in the upper levels through the door on the left.
How on earth did Viola die?

I just finished this one last night. It triggered right. It got weird when I went back to investigate the murder scene again, with a guard "Psst. I know you. Hail Sithis!" There was a lot of back and forth between the Hall of the Dead, the castle, gathered all pieces of evidence, and then finally to Viola. I did solve the case with the culprit now in prison. Spoiler: And now I can buy the house? I hope they clean it up first.

One of the buggiest quests in game, IMO. I couldn't get it to trigger at all for my first character. It triggered on my second character, but the dude you're supposed to ask about the amulet locked himself in his shop and never opened it. Picking the lock & going to talk to him only resulted in him yelling at me to get out. Thankfully Viola's & Wuunferth's dialogues acted as if I had spoken to him, so I was able to complete the quest.

Codespeed: If you're on the PC, you can use console commands to ressurect Viola.

Yes, you will be able to buy the house, and get it cleaned up. To make sure it doesnt bug out at that satge, make sure the first upgrade you get from the steward is cleaning up the mess. Do that before you buy furniture for any of the rooms, or the mess will be there forever.

Thanks man. I'll do that. The game is massive and great but a lot of crummy [censored] happens. I'm glad I didn't find it and go into it blind without any kind of consultation 'cuz then I'd be [censored] beyond belief.

If you do get stuck, come back and let us know. Happy to help.

Lots of familiar sounding bugs here. First time i got the "Speak to the Steward" not going away bug, but was otherwise OK. Second time the quest wouldn't start until I spoke to one quest character (can't remember which one), wouldn't continue until I went to the house without it being suggested, and I also found out about the "clean the house" bug.

So that graveyard is the blood on ice quest. I heard so many stories about blood on ice being a headache. Now I know why I've been subconsciously avoiding doing anything about that graveyard part. lol

This... quest... so many hours trying to get Hjerim...

I did the Imperial questline and then I couldn't start this quest. So I used the console to finsih it, then hjerim would still have broken glass and non-workable plaques even after purcahsing the upgrade to clean it ( purchased first)! I found if you want the house you need to go do this quest as SOON as you get to whiterun after begining the game. Take a carriage there and wait till it's night-time and keep going back and forth through the main gate until you see people crowding around a dead body in the graveyard ( there was actually no body for me :/) and then do the quest until you're ready to finish it then go finish the Stormcloaks quest before finishing as Hjerim's plaques and display cases dont seem to function until you become Thane AFTER completing the STORMCLOAKS questline which finally got it to work.

word of warning: Dont attempt darkbrotherhood quests if you didnt finish blood on the ice. One of the quests of DB require you to kill somebody and if you kill that person before you finish blood on the ice, the blood on the ice will break forever.

I've been wondering this as well. Great advice, cheers guys.

Be warned - once you finish it you'll come to find there is another murderer on the loose and there's nothing to be done about it. *cough*

It's a quest, and it's a little bugged. Follow the blood trail as far as you can and then just a little bit further.

I really love this questline and enjoy the story, unfortunately im always too paranoid its gonna bug, so I do the fast easy method and I normally finish the quest in 5 minutes. Ive only completed the full, 'activated at night' method once (still bugged up) but enjoyed that story more then the main quest line I think lol

I think I completed this quest, I think I had the wrong clown arrested and I still have the weird amulet. Did I screw the quest up? Can I continue the quest?

Its way too late for me to reload the save I was working on the quest with because that was a good 30 hours ago. So, if its borked then I'll just do it again properly on my next playthrough.

You are doing the long way of the quest (more of a story that way) You had the wrong guy arrested but you have to speak with him once he's in prison. If you go in the palace, the steward should arrest him. Once hes in prison go chat with him he will help you catch the real killer. The amulet may remain in your inventory if you don't bring it to calixto, however it you don't bring it to him no worries, its a weightless item and you will only have to get over the fact its in your inventory.