I used to be a huge McDermid fan but my interest has waned as her books have got to be more bestsellers and less the kind of off beat thing I like. Having read a load of dreadful customer reviews of this book on Amazon though I feel inclined to defend the poor woman!

This story has a bit of a far fetched centerpiece to it’s plot; but that’s all it is, something to weave the story around. All that matters is that there are people searching the Lake District for some century and a half old documents. I thought the characters were pretty decent on the whole, some stereotypical, others not; some seemed a bit unnecessary. It’s quite a slow paced story but to say “nothing happens” isn’t fair, it’s just not a fast moving thriller.

I enjoyed it; I’d rather have a Kate Brannigan or a Lindsay Gordon book; but I’d rather read this than the fast paced thriller that the Amazon reviewers seemed to be after.