The House Of Eyes by Kate Ellis

August 20, 2024 By 1 Comment


The House Of Eyes by Kate Ellis
Publisher: Piatkus
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When Darren Hatman first reports his daughter missing, DI Wesley Peterson isn’t too concerned. Leanne Hatman is an aspiring model, keen to leave Devon for the bright lights of London.

But Wesley realises something very sinister is going on when Darren is found murdered in the grounds of Eyecliffe Castle, the hotel where Leanne works. Could Leanne have met a similar fate to her father? But, if so, where is her body?

Wesley begins to suspect a connection between recent events and the disappearance of two girls in the 1950s, at a mysterious ruin called the House of Eyes.

As he tries to solve the puzzle, Wesley must face alarming revelations rooted in centuries of evil – as well as deal with a nightmare of his own . . .

DI Welsey Peterson and his team aren’t sure how seriously to take the missing persons report from a father when his nineteen year old daughter hasn’t made contact for a few weeks. Independent and with dreams of becoming a model in London, it seems quite understandable she’s been caught up in the fast paced city life. Only when the father turns up dead, murdered on the edges of Eyecliffe Castle, the hotel where his daughter had been working for some time does it appear likely things aren’t as simple and innocent as they’d suggested. Can Wesley and his team uncover what’s really going on?

This is the next book in a long-running series blending together a current British Procedural murder mystery along with always a dollop of historical and archaeology. I must admit this time around Neil and the archaeology aspect to the plotline takes a bit of a back seat. Wesley has a fair bit of family difficulty going on and that takes a bit more of a front seat in this book and it appears to have squeezed out some of the history. While there certainly is still some history surrounding an old diary I do feel the archaeology element isn’t as front-facing in this book as it often is in the others.

I definitely feel the pace of the current murder and mystery is well plotted and well balanced with the other elements to the story. I also feel that the plot surrounding Pam was delicately handled and while it might have been a little gentle/brief on details I feel Pam and Wesley both reacted to the situation logically and in a believable manner I was particularly pleased Wesley put his money where his mouth frequently is – and he did indeed drop his work commitments when his family needed him there. We’ve seen him do this on lesser scales a number of times, but a big part of me the fact he did this without question or request will hopefully finally shut up Pam and her whining about how much time Wesley spends with his work commitments.

Another small fault was Rachel, Wesley’s colleague and fellow officer, putting off her wedding again. Admittedly it was for a jolly good reason this time – but since this is the second (or third? At least?) time the ceremony has been put off I’m really starting to feel her farmer fiance’s patience should be wearing thin and Rachel really need to either call it all off or go through with it. The previous time she put it all off (about two books ago now) I felt quite sympathetic for the long-suffering fellow and while there was a solid and undeniable reason this time, I really do feel his patience is heading towards saintly levels and not being very believable. I sincerely hope they manage to make it down the aisle in the next book or so.

With quite a bit of character movement in this book along with a solid murder mystery I feel this book might not be the best suited for new readers who haven’t read any of the previous books. But I did find this an excellent police procedural for readers who have read at least a few of the previous installments. With strong and interesting characters and an excellent mix of historical and present day mystery this is a lovely book.

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Beneath Cold Earth by M S Morris

August 19, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Beneath Cold Earth by M S Morris
Publisher: Landmark Media
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A buried skeleton. A dark conspiracy. A ruthless killer.
When flash floods unearth a human skeleton at a local beauty spot, DCI Tom Raven is called to investigate. Who is the dead man, and how did he end up there?

Help is on hand from forensic anthropologist Dr Chandice Jones who enjoys the challenge of working with old bones. But is Raven one challenge too many for her?

Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Becca Shawcross is called to a local nursing home where an elderly resident has taken his own life. The death appears to be a routine case of suicide, but Becca has her suspicions. Could foul play be involved?

As the two investigations widen, Raven and Becca begin to find common threads. And when things take a sinister turn, they must work together to untangle the connections between the two deaths.

Because some secrets are best left buried.

When local flooding uncovers a long-buried skeleton DCI Tom Raven is intrigued, and even more committed when the beautiful forensic anthropologist Dr Chandice Jones can give him some of the answers he seeks. Meanwhile DS Becca Shawcross is convinced that a local elderly man did not commit suicide as his caregivers appear to believe, and when the evidence supports her intuition she finds herself quickly uncovering more than she ever expected. Can Becca and Tom each uncover the truth behind their respective mysteries?

This is the second book revolving around DCI Raven and his small team and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A very well written British police procedural I definitely enjoyed the two main plots in this story. While I felt it a little cliched when the two threads wove together it didn’t feel overly fake or forced. I did however particularly like how it was Becca who joined the two cases together before Tom managed to find the links. I found that very cool.

I also really enjoyed a number of the secondary characters in this book – especially Violet in the nursing home. The only thing I do feel readers should be aware of is while the plot is very well handled and wrapped up in this book one of the longer story arcs revolving around Becca did end on somewhat of a cliffhanger. Readers who hate one book ending and it being fairly necessary to begin the next book immediately might need to ensure they have book 3 readily on hand. As this second book certainly finishes right where book three is about to begin and where from the blurb it appears the next investigation is right about to start.

I found this to be a well plotted murder mystery with two solid plots that interwove together very well. I am thoroughly enjoying the strong cast of secondary characters, and I also greatly enjoyed the strong historical context to this particular murder mystery. While there is somewhat of a cliffhanger ending which is clearly leading into the next book the plot itself is very well contained in this story and I do feel readers can certainly pick up this book and read it very much as a standalone. I am eager for the next in the series.

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Out of My Window by Kuldeep D. Gohel

August 15, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Out of My Window by Kuldeep D. Gohel
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A fast fiction fantasy story.

Hope is for everyone.

Mitram was such a kind and gentle protagonist. I liked him the instant I met him and wanted him to have the happy ending in his life that he wished for. Even his flaws made me want to get to know him better as, to be perfectly honest, I sometimes struggle with social anxiety as well. The author’s descriptions of what it feels like to have that condition were nicely written and quite true to life in my experience.

I would have liked to see more physical descriptions included in this tale, especially when it came to what Mitram and Anjali looked like as most of the focus was on their personalities. Even knowing details as simple as whether they were tall or short and what sort of hairstyles they wore would have helped me to picture them more clearly in my mind as I read.

The explanation of how the magic windows worked made me grin. I can’t remember the last time I read something quite like that in fantasy stories, and I spend a lot of time in that genre! Mr. Gohel’s creativity makes me curious to read more from him. He has such a strong writing voice that I almost felt as though I was sitting next to him as he spoke despite the fact that I’ve never met him and obviously don’t actually know what he sounds like. That is an accomplishment for sure, and I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next!

Out of My Window made me smile.

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The Death Season by Kate Ellis

August 13, 2024 By Leave a Comment


The Death Season by Kate Ellis
Publisher: Piatkus
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When DI Wesley Peterson is summoned to investigate a killing, he assumes that the case is a routine matter. But soon dark secrets start to emerge from the victim’s past and Wesley realises that this cold-blooded murder is more complicated than he could have imagined.

Archaeologist Neil Watson is meanwhile studying Sandrock, a ruined village from the First World War that tumbled into the sea. Neil cannot shake the feeling that something is missing from his explorations: a cryptic clue that might be able to help Wesley solve his case.

As more victims fall prey to a killer, Wesley fears his precious family are becoming a target. Just like the fallen village of Sandrock, Wesley will have to stand tall if he is to withstand the coming storm.

DI Wesley Peterson is summoned to investigate what looks like a suspicious death in a hotel room, he has no idea just how dark and how far back the various threads around this murder will go. And as more people seemingly fall prey to this killer, Wesley has no idea just how close to home the danger is lurking.

I have been enjoying this series which blends together a modern mystery-thriller very well with a historical and archaeological setting. DI Peterson’s old university friend is once again nearby and studying a local ruined village which partially tumbled down the cliffs into the sea just after World War One. While the two cases have no direct bearing on each other it’s always interesting how events of the past so frequently have relevance – or mimic – events still going on in the present day.

Much like in the previous few books I thoroughly enjoyed both the historical story unfolding around Neil and his archeological site and the modern murder mystery and Wesley going through the police procedural aspect to the plots. I thought the plot slowly but with a good pace ramped up until there was quite a fast pace towards the climax and conclusion. I thought this side to the story was exceptionally well handled by the author. Pam Peterson – Wesley’s wife – once again seems to be unhappy with her lot and while I empathize that she feels Wesley’s police work takes up a lot of his time I really am sick of Pam whining about this. While I understand her disliking his sometimes long and unusual hours, I really do feel she needs to grow up and accept this is part of what she agreed to in marrying a policeman. It also looks as if possibly Neil has finally found a sensible woman and a part of me really hope this might work for them both. That would be lovely to see after him being mostly single and carefree for so very long.

A lovely addition to the series, I found this to be a well-paced and exceptionally well plotted story. While I could happily do without Pam and her sourness the rest of the cast are mostly enjoyable and well-balanced characters. A good book from an excellent series.

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Razortooth by Stephen Kozeniewski and Stevie Kopas

August 7, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Razortooth by Stephen Kozeniewski and Stevie Kopas
Publisher: French Press Publishing
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, LGBTQ, Historical, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Belladonna Beauregard is an ordinary Georgia peach, worried about nothing in the world more complicated than running around, fishing, and playing in the woods.

Then the bombs drop.

Instantly, America is reduced to ash. Millions die, and in the aftermath, a cruel, vigilante militia seeks to takes over the irradiated Geiger Lands from their base in Belladonna’s commandeered home.

And Belladonna…changes.

Changes into a mutant. A killer. An assassin, enslaved and forced to kill for the very people who destroyed her home and family.

But Belladonna is about to break free, like a butterfly from a bloodstained cocoon. And she’s about to become the legendary slasher known as…

RAZORTOOTH

Survival is a game.

One of the things I liked most about the main character was seeing how she survived so many different catastrophes that should have killed her. Razortooth was a resourceful and intelligent person who paid close attention to her surroundings and was always on alert for danger. While I can’t say I’d necessarily want to meet her in a dark alleyway given how jumpy she could be, I was fascinated by how her difficult childhood and early adulthood shaped her into the warrior she became.

I would have liked to see more world building in this book. Life after a nuclear war would be radically different than anything that came before it, so I was hoping to see more explanations of how people survived in a world where most living things had either been killed off or seriously affected by radiation. Obviously, there is plenty of artistic license to be taken with such a concept and I wouldn’t expect everything to have a scientific explanation, but I still found myself wishing for many more details about how it all worked and how the small fraction of humanity who did survive managed to eke out a living in such a hostile and dangerous environment.

Horror appeals to me in large part because of its willingness to explore topics that many other genres tend to shy away from or even ignore entirely. To give one example, Razortooth lived in a violently sexist society where women were, for the most part, seen as objects to be used instead of people to be respected and listened to. Being exposed to such things can warp people’s minds in all sorts of terrible ways, and I thought the gore and violence in this book was a good metaphor not only for how any sort of prejudice will destroy a society but also for how attempts to resist it can be both consciously and unconsciously misconstrued and fought against by people who want to preserve the status quo and retain their power in it. The beginning and the ending are particularly good examples of this theme once the reader figures out how they tie into the rest of it, but that’s all I can say without sharing spoilers.

Razortooth made me shudder.

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Old Bones Lie by Marion Todd

July 31, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Old Bones Lie by Marion Todd
Publisher: Canelo Crime
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

DI Clare Mackay is about to face a test of her loyalty…
When a report comes in that a van containing two prison officers and a convicted jewel thief is missing, the police in St Andrews work quickly to locate the vehicle. Their efforts prove in vain when no trace is found and they realise the wives of both officers also appear to have left the area. Is this a case of corrupt guards springing a felon, or innocent people caught in the crossfire?

DI Clare Mackay leads the team but has to do without her right hand man; DS Chris West is a cousin to one of the missing prison officers and must not be involved in the case. With a new sergeant at her side plus a previously unencountered DCI, Clare’s people skills are pushed to the limit. Especially once she realises her boss is keeping her on the sidelines. Just what is it that Clare doesn’t know? And if she has to choose between keeping secrets from a friend, or letting slip something that could see a culprit go free, which path will she take?

DI Clare Mackay is racing the clock trying to find a missing prison van with two guards and a seemingly escaped convicted jewel thief. When it quickly becomes apparent the wives of the two missing guards are also nowhere to be found, the question is asked were the guards complicit in the escaped man – or are they innocent men caught in a terrifying crossfire. Without her right-hand man – DS Chris is the cousin to one of the guards, and with both a new partner, new DCI and new team members Clare has her plate full.

I found this to be an interesting and well-paced police procedural style of mystery/suspense novel. I feel it stands very well alone, and while a number of the team members have been working cohesively together for a while now, there are a number of new characters introduced here and so I don’t feel readers will feel like they need any of the previous books to thoroughly enjoy this novel. I also feel the author did a good job helping this story feel fresh without casting too much tension or an unbelievable amount of conflict into the story. Adding new characters and changing the team’s dynamic like this certainly to my mind helped keep everything feeling fresh and different.

I also really appreciated the complexity to the plot. There were two to three main investigations interweaving throughout the whole story and working out what was linked and what was independent kept me on my toes for much of the story. Tension and emotions were also running high – with one of the prison guards being a well-loved cousin to a long-standing team member and with the new characters not immediately being transparent there were plenty of questions and double-guessing going on for me personally. This helped keep the complexity of the plots high to my mind and I enjoyed trying to unravel everything.

Each of the main plotlines had a solid and thorough explanation and conclusion – so readers who detest cliff hangers or “find out more next book” shouldn’t find anything here to annoy them. I also enjoyed how while Clare’s personal relationship with their previous DCI is still ongoing and was continued in this book at no stage did I feel it detracted or overshadowed the police investigations or the main plotlines. I thought the author balanced all these elements really well and I found it an excellent and enjoyable read.

Readers looking for a solid, well-paced and cleverly plotted Scottish police procedural story should definitely give this book a try. While all the books in this series are good this can easily be read by itself, and I feel it’s an good addition to the “tartan noir” Scottish based mystery/suspense genre.

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Lies to Tell by Marion Todd

July 26, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Lies to Tell by Marion Todd
Publisher: Canelo, UK
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer…

Early one morning DI Clare Mackay receives a message from her boss DCI Alastair Gibson telling her to meet him in secret. She does as he asks and is taken from St Andrews to a secure location in the remote Scottish hills. There, she is introduced to ethical hacker Gayle Crichton and told about a critical security breach coming from inside Police Scotland. Clare is sworn to secrecy and must conceal Gayle’s identity from colleagues until the source is found.

Clare already has her hands full keeping a key witness under protection and investigating the murder of a university student. When a friend of the victim is found preparing to jump off the Tay Road Bridge it is clear he is terrified of someone. But who? Clare realises too late that she has trusted the wrong person. As her misplaced faith proves a danger to herself and others, Clare must fight tooth and nail to protect those she cares about and see justice done.

DI Clare Mackay is all settled in St. Andrews and feeling good about how things are going. When she’s instructed that her morning meeting has been cancelled and she needs to meet her boss in secret things become weird fast. DCI Gibson and Clare are taken to an underground bunker in the remote Scottish hills and threatened with having their Warrants taken if they breathe a word of what’s discussed in those walls. Clare trusts her team implicitly, but with the threat of her entire career hanging on the line she’s going to have to get used to subterfuge very quickly. Will it all be a deadly mistake?

I’ve been enjoying this series and this book was no different. I was pleased that Clare is feeling settled and happy in her life and strongly feel this book can be read as a stand alone. The relationships and much of the history between the characters and Clare’s team is very well explained and I don’t feel readers will miss anything if they start fresh with this book.

I found this to be very much a police procedural style of novel and set in Scotland but not in Edinburgh or Glasgow I thought it had a good blend of a more rural feel while still being a university city based police story. I also was really impressed there were two or three main plotlines all twining together and this helped keep the pace of the story feeling like it was moving along and not dragging in any areas. I was pretty impressed I managed to guess one of the main plot endings – but was rather surprised with a few others and so this also felt very balanced and enjoyable to me.

I must admit Clare’s love life is getting a little more complicated and the ending left a few big questions hovering in the air. This is a love-life question – not a plot being left unresolved – but readers who dislike any real romance might find this book strays a little too far for their liking. And while the police/mystery aspects to the story are all very neatly tied up some of Clare’s personal life is definitely left unresolved so these might be issues for some readers.

With interesting characters and a very strong plot with complications and a few different aspects to it this was a complex and well written police procedural that I greatly enjoyed.

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How to Develop Your Career Path in a Post Pandemic World by Zail Dugal

July 23, 2024 By Leave a Comment


How to Develop Your Career Path in a Post Pandemic World by Zail Dugal
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In the wake of the global pandemic, the professional landscape has undergone profound changes, challenging traditional notions of career advancement and stability. Recent graduates are having trouble finding their footing in the workplace after many other professionals have been laid off or furloughed. Some professionals have had gaps in their employment because of parental responsibilities, having their own health challenges, or caring for their aging parents. How to Develop Your Career Path in a Post Pandemic World is a comprehensive guide that navigates readers through this evolving terrain, offering practical insights, strategies, and actionable steps to thrive in the new normal.

Uncertainty can be a gift.

Not every job is the perfect fit for every worker. I nodded in agreement as I read about the importance of knowing one’s skills, strengths, and weaknesses before deciding which positions to apply for. Even something as simple as preferring background noise or preferring a quiet workplace should be considered, and I liked the fact that the author spent so much time talking about the many different factors that should be considered when looking into possible roles.

The thought that crossed my mind over and over again as I read this was that I wished the author had included more details about every step in the process. She covered a lot of important information about modern job hunting, but she didn’t have time to dive deeply into any one particular topic. It would have been especially helpful if she had talked more about how online job applications have altered the job search process, how to tailor a resume to a specific position, and what people who are disabled or part of other minority groups can do to increase their odds of success. She did discuss some of the unique challenges mothers and caregivers face in the workplace, so I would have been keen to see this section expanded by several chapters so that other perspectives could be included as well.

I appreciated the attention Ms. Dugal paid to the emotional aspects of job hunting, from feeling the sting of rejection to building resiliency and maintaining a hopeful outlook on life. It can be quite difficult to send out countless job applications that are never replied to or to interview for positions for companies that do not keep applicants updated on the process. There are a lot of things one cannot control while looking for work, so remaining upbeat about the things one does have an influence on makes a great deal of difference. If only this section had been longer! Honestly, I think it was the most important chapter of them all.

How to Develop Your Career Path in a Post Pandemic World was thought provoking.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Next In Line by Marion Todd

July 16, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Next In Line by Marion Todd
Publisher: Canelo Crime
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A murder victim with celebrity connections spells trouble for DI Clare Mackay…
Gaby Fox is known to many due to her successful TV career, so when her brother and his pals hire the salubrious Lamond Lodge for his birthday celebrations, it is noted by the St Andrews locals. A ripple of shock goes round the town when Russell Fox is gunned down on the premises.

DI Clare Mackay is attending a wedding when she sees Gabrielle receive a phone call then flee. Soon after, Clare learns why when the news of the shooting reaches her. Instead of trying to enjoy the day – not easy when the groom is her ex-boyfriend – Clare is preoccupied.

Clare gets to work on uncovering the facts surrounding Russell Fox’s death. The guests at the lodge have secrets to hide, but even when Clare begins to unravel the deceit, it doesn’t bring the answers. The detective can’t help but wonder why no one who knew Russell seems capable of telling the truth, and whether there is more than one person with a reason to want him dead…

DI Clare Mackay and her team are brought in to investigate when the brother of a popular tv show presenter is shot dead during a quiet birthday weekend at the exclusive Lamond Lodge. With the press immediately covering every move the team make, pressure begins early. But Clare and her team quickly uncover more and more lies surrounding nearly every aspect to the case and the whole situation becomes ever more murky. Can they work out what was really happening that weekend?

I’ve been enjoying this Scottish police procedural series and in particular the strong female lead detective. I feel that much of the mystery aspect to this plot stands very well alone, but I was happily surprised to find quite a bit of forward motion happens in this book with Clare and her personal life. While the mystery can certainly stand well in this book alone, I do feel that readers will understand and better enjoy the personal aspects to this story having read the last previous few books in this series. I think the author did a good job of explaining what was happening and why this movement was important – but I personally felt the emotional connection more deeply because I’ve read the previous installments.

The mystery itself is certainly front and center throughout the entire book – though I will admit the personal aspects is a lot more forward in this book than I’ve found in the previous ones. I thought the plot was well balanced and there were plenty of dead ends and red herrings. I was also pretty interested that a few of the peripheral characters linked to the various layers in this crime linked back to previous books and crimes as well. While I can understand readers might not enjoy the connections to past books, I felt it helped give me a better sense of the world and community within this story and setting of St. Andrews and in a sense, it was incredibly logical. Petty crime and similar social circles and movements would totally overlap. There isn’t an endless supply of people in a community like St. Andrews so it makes sense sometimes a person would be revisited in the future who had been a part of a previous case.

Logical and realistic, I am definitely happy with this series and plan to continue to read it.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

The Shroud Maker by Kate Ellis

July 15, 2024 By Leave a Comment


The Shroud Maker by Kate Ellis
Publisher: Piatkus Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A year on from the mysterious disappearance of Jenny Bercival, DI Wesley Peterson is called in when the body of a strangled woman is found floating out to sea in South Devon.

The discovery mars the festivities of the Palkin Festival, held each year to celebrate the life of John Palkin, a fourteenth-century Mayor of Tradmouth who made his fortune from trade and piracy. It seems like death and mystery have returned to haunt the town.

When archaeologist Neil Watson makes a grim discovery on the site of Palkin’s warehouse, it looks as if history might have inspired a killer. It is only by delving into the past that Wesley can come close to uncovering the truth . . .

One year after Jenny Bercival disappeared, a young woman is found strangled and floating out to sea in South Devon. Young and beautiful, the woman was dressed in mediaeval dress like so many others celebrating the Palkin Festival – an annual event held at this time. There are many similarities between Jenny and this young dead woman and Wesley, and his team can’t help but wonder if this had been Jenny’s fate the previous year – only her body had been taken out to sea for good. Can Wesley sort out what’s going on?

Yet another good addition to this series, I was pleased that the historical and archaeology of this book was very well woven into the main plotline of the mediaeval festival going on while the killings occurred. Quite a few plots and sub-plots wove around together, including a number of the usual cast of secondary characters. I enjoyed there being some forward motion with the DCI and his grown children, as well as DS Rachel and her planned nuptials. And as always, I enjoyed Wesley and Neil working back and forth together, each finding small nuggets that the other could use to further their own investigations.

This book is well contained and while I feel readers who pick this up not knowing any of the characters might have to catch up a little on how everyone is linked together the actual plots are very well encapsulated within this story and should be very easy to follow. I do admit to getting a bit annoyed with Rachel’s character – she’s had a low-key crush on Wesley pretty much since the first book and it’s no secret to anyone who has read almost any of this series, but for quite some time now it’s been virtually non-existent and I felt it a bit annoying that the author flared it back to life somewhat after such a long dormancy, especially considering how close to her own wedding Rachel is right now. It felt a little cliched to me and a little bit like a low blow. This part was extremely brief and minor – but I couldn’t help but cringe a little when it did happen.

That said I was fairly pleased both with the unique twist to the main murder plotline that happened right at the end – that did take me by surprise, and I found it quite refreshing – and I was also pleased the murders weren’t as clear-cut and simple as I had expected them to be either. So, the murder plots themselves were exceptionally well handled I thought and this more than made up for the cliched “getting cold feet” and boozy embarrassing moment that occurred with Rachel.

A solid British police procedural murder mystery with a good amount of historical archaeology.

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