As soon as I started reading this I knew that I wouldn’t have to look very far to find a bad review of it. And sure enough there are several up on Amazon.co.uk already complaining about the fact that the first few chapters switch between badly spelt and punctuated emails and transcribed dictation.

I can’t say that I mind that myself. The book does get down to regular narrative fiction after a while (it does switch back to email and dictation throughout) and I like reading an author who does something different. I didn’t find these chapters difficult to read though as some seem to have done. It’s all a plot device of course, the story wouldn’t have been the same if it had been told in a different manner.

I did think the book was a bit lengthy. It’s been the same kind of thing with the last few Dalziel and Pascoe books: the plot turns out to be so full of complex twists and turns that you can see why the book was so long after you’ve finished it, but you can’t see it quite the same when you’re in the middle of it and a lot of the hidden bits are going straight over your head. I wouldn’t mind Reginald Hill deciding to turn out a few shorter books for a bit - my arms could do with a rest!