Another murder mystery to be solved by intrepid Shetland sailor Cass Lynch and her policeman boyfriend DI Gavin Macrae. Cass looks after Tamar, an elderly lady, discharged from hospital after a fall, at her remote croft. The vultures gather from near and far (London and even New Zealand). Some want Tamar to leave her the croft. Others are chasing the rumour that one of Tamar's relatives might be an (illegitimate but, under Scottish law, full) heir to the estate of the laird. Has Tamar got something that thieves want? And what is hidden in the container near the jetty?
Death provokes further questions. Why did the man fall to his death from the nearby cliff? And when further deaths occur: what happened and why?
As it happened, for once, I was ahead of Cass every step of the way. But it didn't matter. I love these books not for the puzzles they pose, though that is an essential ingredient of all good whodunnits, and not for the inevitably nail-biting finish at the end, but for the quality of the writing, the perfectly-drawn characters, the insight into Shetland life, and the lyrical descriptions of sailing and scenery.
Selected quotes:
- "Given that I’d lived on a series of boats for the last fifteen years, since I was sixteen, I didn’t see why just being female qualified me for the post of Chief Inspector of Housework" (Ch 1)
- "A brown Shetland wren landed on the drystone dyke that enclosed it, bobbed at us, chittered indignantly, then flew into a cranny between two grey-lichened stones." (Ch 1)
- "The stairs were best grade traditional crofthouse, with a gradient similar to a ladder’s, going straight up between wooden walls." (Ch 1)
- "I was still wary of large animals that had a bite at one end and a kick at the other." (Ch 1)
- "The gold flush along the bottom of the eastern cumulus faded to grey, and the clouds jostled over the sun, leaving only a chink of bright sky." (Ch 2)
- "Outside, the wind had fallen to a cold breath on my bare arm. The sky was not yet dark; there was a band of lavender along the horizon, shading up to creamy-blue that gradually deepened to indigo. Three stars glittered. Even as I watched, the lavender darkened to heather purple." (Ch 2)
- "Her eyes seemed too big, green searchlights seeking out other people’s frailties." (Ch 5)
- "She paused, and tilted her head towards the guest bedroom. ‘No sign of life from there. Probably doesn’t know there is a morning.’" (Ch 6)
- "Loretta had copied the short, flicked-back haircut, and walked as if she expected people to bring her flowers as she passed." (Ch 7)
- "I felt my inner socialist welling up." (Ch 11)
- "I wouldn’t keep trying to have my butter and the money for it" (Ch 15)
- “Why on earth,” I told her, “would he carry poison round with him in his backpack when he’s just coming to redd up kin? It’s a bit overly for a first meeting.”’ (Ch 17)
- "Dealing with disturbed people’s all in a day’s work for Superplod." (Ch 24)
This is a crime novel by a writer at the very top of her game.
August 2021
The brilliant books in this series, in order, include:- Death on a Longship
- The Trowie Mound Murders
- A Handful of Ash
- The Body in the Bracken
- Ghosts of the Vikings
- Death in Shetland Waters
- Death on a Shetland Isle
- Death from a Shetland Cliff
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