Reviews

This book is a pretty decent read.

A famous author dies just before COVID lockdowns (not connected), and as they go through his papers, it looks like he's written about a recent cold case, which is why the "cold case squad" gets involved. They investigate, follow the evidence, make comment about lockdown, and what's happening to migrants, and solve the case.

It's not the most profound book in the world, and there were references to previous books in the series that made me feel like I was missing something (or that I was getting spoilers for previous books at least), but it was engaging enough.

One of my grumbles might be that anyone who's read much crime fiction (or watched it on tv) would be able to guess who did it. The other grumble is that there was the potential to flip expectations, to get a slightly different murderer, but the book didn't have the guts to pull that trigger. It was set up so that it could have gone this different way, and it was a shame that it didn't pull that trigger.

dbevvers63's review against another edition

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challenging informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

dgrachel's review against another edition

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I just can’t get into this one. The personal lives of the detectives feel like needless distractions. I don’t care about the case. I know it can’t be as easy a solve as the current set up, so there has to be a big twist coming, but I find that I simple don’t care. Plus, I almost cried when I saw how much of the book I had left to listen to. That’s never a good sign.

winniefoster's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

McDermid is an excellent writer but there was something tired and predictable about this. The novel-within-a-novel feels like an overused trope and the simmering undercurrent of resentment at lockdown restrictions makes the Covid patient subplot feel exploitative rather than emotional. A lot of readers will 'solve' the central case long before the detectives do.

alixv's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

ninagmorgan's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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