I'm glad to have found these titles from an older series by Ann Cleeves. She is such a wonderful writer and I hate to run out of books by her. This is another great mystery. Good characters, lovely sense of place. A great read, read by a swell narrator. ( )

Stephen Ramsay seems a little more relaxed in this novel than in the first in the series. He has bought and moved into a cottage in Heppleburn, the setting for the first in the series. He is also better fleshed out and we find out a bit more personal background.

This novel has a number of themes but the main one is a proposed housing development in the village. The woman who originally sold the land to the developer claims she was misled about the nature of the development. She invites her family to stay with her as usual on St. David's Day but that night goes off to see the land developer with an offer to buy back the land. That is the last time her rather dysfunctional family sees her. The next morning she is found dead, murdered.

Ramsay is under pressure to solve the murder and it is obvious that Hunter, his #2, feels he is not taking the steps that he should. Jack Robson who appeared in the first novel makes a second appearance.

I enjoyed this novel and will certainly look for the third. ( )

This is an odd series; the settings seem timeless. I see this was first published in 1991, but honestly it could be pretty much any decade since cars were invented.

Ramsay is an ineffectual detective, just going around and around the various suspects, asking them questions (or more often than not failing to find them at home), until a reporter solves the case for him and the murderer explains all the details. The reporter, Mary, was I think meant to be a sympathetic character, but I failed to spot any redeeming features in her. The only likeable person was perhaps 7 year old Peter. ( )

A great weekend read. It was a bit slow in the beginning, but it picked up the pace. It had a lot of foreshadowing...then it had a plot twist at the climax...A real page-tuner the second half of the book! ( )