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cjgmiranda220's review
3.0
I really like British mysteries. This one is written very well, and I kept me guessing. The only downside is that it's longer than the books I usually read.
majkia's review against another edition
4.0
Rating: Nicely done, with plenty of twists and turns
Interesting noir-ish take on country-set English murders. Cozy setting, not so cozy mystery. The setting was very well drawn, easily pictured and imagined. Cooper and Fry, junior police officers, were definitely still learning, and both were hampered by their pasts and their views of families and how other folks might behave.
Definitely plan to read more of this series.
Interesting noir-ish take on country-set English murders. Cozy setting, not so cozy mystery. The setting was very well drawn, easily pictured and imagined. Cooper and Fry, junior police officers, were definitely still learning, and both were hampered by their pasts and their views of families and how other folks might behave.
Definitely plan to read more of this series.
jonathanrobert's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
carosbcher's review
2.0
Eine britischer Thriller...automatisch habe ich ihn ein bisschen mit Simon Beckett verglichen und musste feststellen, dass das Buch nicht an ihn heranreicht. Dafür gab es zu viele unnötige Anspielungen, die sich in ihrer Art wiederholten, und zu wenige charakteristisch geformte Persönlichkeiten. Der Neuzugang der Polizeiwache, Diane Fry, blieb mir, obwohl ich das Gefühl hatte, dass der Autor eine Wandlung in ihrer Person thematisiert, bis zuletzt äußerst unsympathisch und war meines Erachtens sehr einseitig.
Das waren aber auch schon meine zwei Meckerpunkte :) Wenn man dies außer Acht lässt, liest man über einen spannenden Mordfall und erhält viele Einblicke in die verzwickten Ermittlungen und eine tiefe Männerfreundschaft. Auch das Ende hat mich überrascht, die Aufklärung des Falls kam für mich sehr unerwartet. Vielleicht ein kleines bisschen zu sehr ;)
Das waren aber auch schon meine zwei Meckerpunkte :) Wenn man dies außer Acht lässt, liest man über einen spannenden Mordfall und erhält viele Einblicke in die verzwickten Ermittlungen und eine tiefe Männerfreundschaft. Auch das Ende hat mich überrascht, die Aufklärung des Falls kam für mich sehr unerwartet. Vielleicht ein kleines bisschen zu sehr ;)
pgchuis's review
3.0
I really wanted to like this book. It is the first of a series featuring police officers Ben Cooper and Diane Fry set in the Peak District. In this one, the case they work on is the murder of a 15 year old girl, Laura Vernon. Ben and Diane are both detective constables in this book and are therefore given relatively menial tasks, so many of the scenes where suspects and witnesses are interviewed feature DCI Tailby, who appears to have no personality whatsoever.
Diane has some mystery in her past which resulted in her being transferred to this police force, but we are not told exactly what happened and she has intermittent panic attacks, which are described in great detail. Ben's father (also a policeman) was killed in the line of duty and he seems oddly resentful of this. His mother is a schizophrenic and prone to violent outbursts and he agonizes over what to do about her (personally I think she clearly needs to be removed from the farm, where she is physically attacking her daughter-in-law and traumatizing her grandchildren).
There is a lot of description of the Peak District, which I liked at the beginning, but eventually started to skip. It amazes me how unhelpful fictional characters in small rural villages are to the police - is that realistic? Also, could a pathologist really be able to tell at a post-mortem that a girl had been very sexually active (as opposed to no longer being a virgin?)
There were no likeable characters in this book: Ben was moody and immature, Diane was just nasty, the Vernons were unlikeable on a whole other level and don't get me started on Harry. He went from not even speaking to his own wife to narrating most of chapter 29. The solution to the mystery came out of nowhere and was unsatisfactory to me. The whole book was slow and gloomy and I won't be reading the others in this series.
Diane has some mystery in her past which resulted in her being transferred to this police force, but we are not told exactly what happened and she has intermittent panic attacks, which are described in great detail. Ben's father (also a policeman) was killed in the line of duty and he seems oddly resentful of this. His mother is a schizophrenic and prone to violent outbursts and he agonizes over what to do about her (personally I think she clearly needs to be removed from the farm, where she is physically attacking her daughter-in-law and traumatizing her grandchildren).
There is a lot of description of the Peak District, which I liked at the beginning, but eventually started to skip. It amazes me how unhelpful fictional characters in small rural villages are to the police - is that realistic? Also, could a pathologist really be able to tell at a post-mortem that a girl had been very sexually active (as opposed to no longer being a virgin?)
There were no likeable characters in this book: Ben was moody and immature, Diane was just nasty, the Vernons were unlikeable on a whole other level and don't get me started on Harry. He went from not even speaking to his own wife to narrating most of chapter 29. The solution to the mystery came out of nowhere and was unsatisfactory to me. The whole book was slow and gloomy and I won't be reading the others in this series.
stackwoodlibrary's review
2.0
Got this thru ILL since no library in the area possessed a copy. And now I know why..... Several times I wanted to just throw it across the room: frustrating, a VERY annoying female sidekick (who is about as uncouth as they come)- what kept me going was: I knew the solution was right in front of me & wanted to see it thru.
That, and I figure this book, the first of a series with Ben Cooper, was all about background & setting up the scene for the upcoming books.
Perhaps I'll read more of Mr. Booth, but I'll whittle down my to-read heap a bit first.
That, and I figure this book, the first of a series with Ben Cooper, was all about background & setting up the scene for the upcoming books.
Perhaps I'll read more of Mr. Booth, but I'll whittle down my to-read heap a bit first.
aoutrance's review
2.0
This book is very, very English.
This bewildering line brought the entire story down for me; it made me rethink what I liked about the characters:
Whaaaa??
This bewildering line brought the entire story down for me; it made me rethink what I liked about the characters:
"She panicked?"
"Yes, inspired by half-digested sex-education lessons and a vivid imagination. And with all the stories that have been in the papers, the first thing that occurred to her was to shout rape."
"Not the first time that's happened."
Fry shrugged. "We all know there are more false rape allegations than there are actual rapes. The boyfriend's fifteen, by the way."
Whaaaa??
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