I think this almost works, but it ends up being a bit of a disappointment. What works is the setting, Rutland is a little world in its own right and he captures this quite well. His main detective, Caroline Hills, has been lumbered with an awful lot of baggage, not all of which feels to be necessary or germane to the plot. She's an incomer and has yet to adapt and integrate. Her main support, Dexter Antoine, is much more rounded and interesting as a character, while being another outsider. He feels far more human and three dimensional. The murder is an interesting one, with enough red herrings that keep crossing the trail. Although there was an awful lot of theorising ahead of one's data. Caroline got a bee in her bonnet and wouldn't let it go, despite nothing more than circumstantial evidence to support her theory. The solution, when it comes, was one that had been telegraphed in advance, but it resorted to that least satisfactory of plot devices, the confession. It was OK. I have book 2, so I'll give it a go, but the series will have to get better from here for me to be fan. ( )