Published 2004 by Allison & Busby Limited
350 pages
ISBN 978-0-7490-8291-8
The first book in series of The Lake District Mysteries.
Grade 5/5
I will read more of this writer
Genre: cozy mystery
Keywords: UK The Lake District, history, professionalism, male versus female work relations, life time traumas, unsolved murder, justice, doing the right thing, unfinished business, murder, truth, village life, Daniel Kind, Hannah Scarlett.
We had a wonderful trip to The Lake District in September; everywhere in the tourist shops we saw the books by Martin Edwards and in the end, I gave in and bought one, read it and loved it:
Daniel Kind in an Oxford history professor, who became a TV celebrity on his thesis that to research history is like a detective investigating crime. He has had several crises in his life: at age 12 years his father left the family, never to have contact with him again; his girlfriend of several years committed suicide by jumping out of a tower in Oxford, his colleagues believe that he blames himself for not having prevented that. He is tired of teaching, college politics and of the perpetual gossip among his colleagues.
His new girlfriend, Miranda, a journalist from London has problems at work. On a trip to The Lake District, they spontaneously decide to by a house, leave their present life, move away, start a new chapter far away from former troubles, like embarking on an adventure. They buy the cottage where a friend, Barrie, lived and whom Daniel knew and played with when he was 12, when he spent the last summer vacation with his father, mother and big sister, Louise.
Barrie is considered a murderer of a young woman 7 years go. Daniel is convinced that Barrie could not be a murderer, he was a gentle kid, a bit odd but not cruel and violent. The investigating policeman had been Daniel’s father, Ben, who had died a few years earlier. Daniel starts to wonder who his father really was, having not seen him since aged 12 years; he looks up his second wife, Cheryl, but she has moved on, is not willing to open up to him, accuses Ben’s second in command, Hannah Scarlet, for having had an affair with Ben and suggests to speak with her, throwing the door at him.
Hannah Scarlett is for me a very pleasant acquaintance, someone I would like to know better: 10 years a police officer; she is being sidelined to lead a unit for investigation of cold-cases; Ben taught her everything on policing, to show empathy to the victims, but at the same time to remain detached and impartial; that is exactly how a physician should behave!
Hannah is a professional woman, honest, focused, driven, hardworking, reliable and has short hair and no jewelry. Her parents had died and her insufferable older sister had moved to Italy. She lives with her boyfriend of 7 years, Marc, who is the owner of the best second-hand book-shop north of Oxford. They are not married; Marc is jealous of Hannah’s professional male relationships, he was with Ben, and with her present second-hand Nick, she spends too much time with them. So, she is careful what she tells, not to provoke a scene.
A question that comes up several times in the book: why do men so often read the woman’s signs the wrong way. As a professional woman myself, I do not believe that male colleagues only have sex on their minds, or rather disconnect their minds and let other body parts take over; as presented in this book.
The investigation of unsolved crime, is it about bringing justice to the victims and make things right (Les’s point of view); finding the truth (Daniel’s point of view), doing the right thing (Hannah’s point of view). All agree the innocents always suffer, here Barrie’s mother who was frozen out of her village. Hannah’s believes that truth is usually the last thing people want to see emerge.
Daniel having arrived in the area and starts to make waves, talking in the pub that he does not believe Barrie was a murderer; people believe he says this, so that his house will get a better value. In unfinished business Daniel is never satisfied until he understands. But Hannah’s unit gets an anonymous call, they try to follow up. A can of worms opens up.
Miranda is furious with Daniel that his questions about Barrie push people away, they will never become part of the community, but stay off-comers.
Marc is restless and irritated with this investigation, but it turns out he had betrayed Hannah.
Hannah’s superiors are interested in her not spending money.
A quote
To Hannah, it was an article of faith: any woman with talents owes it to herself and to her gender, to make the most of her potential (p 253). This was written by a male author, in a book where almost all the women use and misuse sex to achieve what they want.
The English in the book is at a high level, I had to look up several words. A word that was not even in my dictionary, but I found it online (oxford), but also explained in the text:
Uxorious - ‘a man who loves his wife’; showing excessive fondness for one’s wife.
A large part of the book takes place in Kendal. considered a gate to The Lake District, though not part of it:
The Stramongate Bridge, near the place where Daniel and Hannah first met and she told him about his father.
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