i really didn't like this book, and won't read any more of this writer. admittedly, the resolution of the mystery was ingenious (and in truth the author wrote it from a story that someone else told her, so no wonder it never really felt like hers) but i solved it at the beginning of the book, which i try never to do. meanwhile the writing was stiff, and so were the characters too. others may of course have enjoyed it thoroughly, and i wish them well. ( )

https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2023/08/2023113-place-of-execution-val-mcdermid.h... ( )

This is a standalone by Val McDermid, set in the Peak District of England. Most of the action takes place during 1963, bracketed by subsequent events in 1998. I'm a McDermid fan in general, but this one stood out for me especially because of the way she describes Derbyshire and the world in general in 1963. ( )

A beautifully crafted police procedural within a highly entertaining cast of characters. Val McDermid can not only hold the reader's attention with an edge of the seat thriller but expertly disguises the real human story behind the killing of Alison Carter until the closing chapters. Her writing style is nothing short of brilliant showing once again why she has few equal to her as a crime writer. ( )

Well enough written and paced, with the awkward sentence or so, the entire story depends on the unlikely setup and is so full of detail that the characters, which seem to offer promise, really aren't given room to be more than ciphers with a stereotype as a label - upright police officer with supportive new wife, smarmy news reporter, old knowing village woman, nasty piece of work villain, self promoting police superior. The police sergeant Thomas almost comes through, but it's not enough.

This meta mystery is so clever it cuts itself. Lest you not notice, Book II, Part II is located before Book II Part I and that placement is all that gives Book II Part I its tension. Also a reference is made to The Wicker Man to rub in the rubes using the police to their own ends aspect. ( )