Enjoyed the claustrophobic setting of the seaside village, with the weight of the past bearing down on everyone. Hamish begins to feel like an interruption to me. There were plenty of murders and an adequate cast of interesting characters to choose your murderer from. Somehow I was a bit put off by the ending, though all the groundwork had been laid, somehow just didn’t feel satisfying. ( )

Interesting story good twists but dragged out a little. ( )

Rutledge investigates "cold" and recent murders in rural England. ( )

On one hand, I enjoyed this book as much as other Charles Todd mysteries. On the other hand, I had a harder time following the plot line with this book. I absolutely love the writing style along with the sense of place and time. The premise is also intriguing. I just found myself getting lost trying to keep the characters straight, and it felt like the ending tidied up with a resolution in a convenient way.

I'm still a fan and will read more from this mother-son author team! ( )

Solid writing as usual and Inspector Rutledge is as compelling as ever, but the story is too complicated by far. By "complicated" I don't mean I don't like having to think when I read, but this story wanders off into the weeds in a way the other Rutledge novels haven't. I am also wondering if Rutledge will ever progress as a character. Arkady Renko in Martin Cruz Smith's novels is another wonderful detective character, but over several novels he has changed and grown, or at least his personal world has. The world of those novels, Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, is hardly a cheerful place, but there is warmth and a sense of hope. I worry that Rutledge's post-war Great Britain will simply remain a bleak, forlorn place. I hope I'm wrong, though, because the previous novels are quite good. This one is somewhere between a two- and a three-star review. ( )