More murder in the Lake District

Earlier this month I blogged about the Lake District murder stories written by Rebecca Tope – you can see what I have to say about them here. The Crooked Shore by Martin Edwards is one of a series of crime novels which he has also set in the Lakes. They are a little darker than Ms Tope’s novels but they both use the landscape of the area as an excellent background to the stories.

The Crooked Shore is the latest in a series of eight books (at the time of writing). The main investigator is Hannah who has been shuffled sideways by her bosses into the Cold Crimes section of the police and looks at old cases to try and solve them. Her life partner is Daniel whose father Ben worked with Hannah in the past. This book has an investigation from the old cases but this then links into the personal life of the characters – I have read a couple of these books and this seems to happen each time.

The case that Hannah is investigating is that of a missing woman who police were convinced was dead but whose body was never found. Daniel is also interested in a new friend of his sister who knew their father before his death. Hannah is worried that Daniel might want to marry her and that she might not be ready. Eventually all the different threads weave together and the author clears up all the mysteries by the end.

This is a bit of a slow starter with a lot of scene setting and getting to know the characters. When Hannah does make a breakthrough it is difficult to work out how she has other than that inspiration hits her and she suddenly realises what has happened. There are a few too many coincidences. By the end of the book characters are in danger and have to be rescued. An experienced reader of crime novels will probably have worked what will happen for themselves. All this makes it enjoyable enough but not particularly special.