Longdale
How do you find a good book?
When travelling I try to find an author writing about the place I visit, so when we made a trip to the Lake District I found The Lake District Mysteries by Martin Edwards, the books were in every store we visited. I bought one and a second one, loved them and got the rest of the series through Book Depository, which unfortunately has closed now.
THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH by MARTIN EDWARDS (book 3 in the series)
Published 2007 by a&b
406 pages
ISBN 978-0-7490-8004-4
Grade 5/5
Genre: classic mystery
Keywords: The Lake district, cold case, police work, research, police investigation, to ask the right questions, local history, family secrets, folklore, telling a tale, gambling addiction, deception, literature in rehabilitation of criminals, motherhood, John Ruskin.
The two first books in the series had Daniel Kind, Oxford historian and TV celebrity, as the main character with detective Hannah Scarlett, in charge of cold cases, in second place, but in this book, Hannah has become more central. Daniel is still there using his history research methods to help detect crimes
It is ten years since Emma disappeared without a trace, then Hannah had been a young policewoman and involved in the investigation; her boss who was about to retire, had not but much effort into the job claimed she had run away. Now the local newspaper has raised the question what happened to Emma. So, the cold case unit and Hannah are ordered to open an investigation, that pleases Hannah.
The newspaper gets an anonymous tip that Emma is buried in the old long inactive arsenic mines that have been left to fall apart, literarily. The police find Emma’s body and another body much older.
We follow Hannah and Marc’s relationship, they have been together for 7 years, Marc feels Hannah is married to her job more than committing to him. Hannah is still influenced by the miscarriage she underwent last year. Hannah’s best (only) friend Terry is actually sorry for Marc and how Hannah always puts him second after her job. Marc is busy with his second-hand bookshop in Kendal. I really love Hannah’s response to Marc trying to get her to do breast enhancement: I am what I am. I do not want to change that.
We also follow Daniel Kind, the son of Hannah’s mentor, Ben, who taught her every thing about detective work. Daniel’s partner Miranda is impulsive and the reason they ‘retired’ to the Lake District; she is getting tired and bored of the quiet of rural UK and wants to return to London, Daniel refuses. Daniel is researching to write a book about Ruskin, a Victorian era writer, artist, who had lived in Coniston, I did not know him so I learned about him throughout the book. But an American historian got published before Daniel had even begun, so he has to find another subject.
There are discussions on folklore and whether it has real merit; how do legends arise. If a legend is told only in the last half century and never mentioned beforehand, even if told in the museum of myths and folklore, is that a legitimate legend or is something else at play? That was Daniel’s question.
Two people die in the book, one in a fire and one is killed and then the cause of Emma’s death is revealed.
All is found out, or is it?
I found that the reason behind Emma’s disappearance was only revealed on page 376 without any hint what so ever before, making it impossible to guess why, how, who benefit?
I like very much the descriptions of the Lake districts with the fells, wild nature, which was as we saw it also. I like the search for the local history and how that influences the present.
Some quotes:
Page 68: The Lake District for its millions of visitors from the four corners of the globe remained at heart a gathering of tight knit communities with everyone seemingly connected to everyone else.
page 200: Once upon a time folk recognized the need for balance between progress and preservation of the past.
My photos of places mentioned in the book from Coniston waters:
THE SERPENT POOL by MARTIN EDWARDS (Book 4 in the series)
Published 2010 by a&b
347 pages
ISBN 978—07490—879-6
Genre: classical mystery
Keywords: The Lake district mystery, cold cases, police investigation, obsession, jealousy, book lovers, relationships, betrayal, Thomas De Quincey,
Grade 5/5
Hannah and Marc have lived together for 7 years, they have just bought a new house outside Ambleside, due to renovations they have spent Christmas with Marc’s mother, his sister and her family. In Marc’s mothers eyes, no woman is good enough for her son, least of all Hannah, the police detective. But it has made Hannah reconsider trying to get a child.
Above their new house is the Serpent Pool where 6 years ago Bethany was found drowned on Valentine’s Day, it is an open case; Bethany’s mother is in a home and not well, Hannah wants to reopen the case; also, it is a case that Ben Kind her boss and mentor, had been sure was a murder case, but he did not succeed to advance the investigation. Hannah is in charge of cold cases and gets approval to start.
This book starts with a New Years evening party by Stuart Wagg, celebrity lawyer to rich celebrity; his at the moment girlfriend is Louise Kind, Daniel’s sister.
Hannah and Marc have to go to the party because Stuart is one of Marc’s main buyers of rare books. A few months ago, George Saffell died in a fire, that is still being investigated as murder? Suicide? Accident? George was also an important client of Marc’s, a real bibliophile; he died watching all his books burning up in a fire.
Daniel Kind returned 2 days ago from America and is still jet-lagged, he is happy to see his sister, but not about her new boyfriend. He has a plan for a new book on Thomas De Quincey another Lake District author I knew nothing about. De Quincey thought of murder as a fine art. They are planning a festival for De Quincey and Daniel has been persuaded to do a talk about him.
After the New Years party Louise breaks up with Stuart, in the fight he insulted her so much that she tried to stab him with scissors. She knows she did not kill him; she runs a way to Daniel. Stuart disappeared only to be found he has been tortured and murdered.
Marc (quote: like most men: brains are in their underpants) has a new young assistant, he is interested and starts to move in on her.
Hannah finds out that Marc had known Bethany, she had worked in his bookshop and had had a major crush on him. Why had he not told Hannah? She feels he has betrayed her big time. Marc found on Hannah’s phone that she had met Daniel; he has always been jealous of her male co-workers like Ben Kind, Nick and now Daniel Kind.
Through out the book we get to know Ben Kind, Hannah’s mentor, Daniel and Louise’s father, whose only mistake was to leave them and their mother and marry his girlfriend Cheryl; a move Hannah knows he regretted for the rest of his life.
In this book I learn about another Lake District author: Thomas De Quincey.
Quote:
Page 96: a quiet backstreet, above a boarded-up sub-post office that had fallen victim to governmental cutbacks. It was happening all over Cumbria, this whittling away of the bonds that tied communities together.
Page 181: Fern was a fashionista’s worst nightmare, one of many reasons why she was Hannah’s best mate in the Cumbria Constabulary.
My photos from places mentioned in the book:
Ambleside:
My photos from Kendal:
The story on the above photo is mentioned in the book on page 180 !
Morecombe Bay:
Morecombe Bay near Arneside:
THE HANGING WOOD by Martin Edwards (book 5 in the series)
Published 2011 by a&b
349 pages
ISBN 978-0-7490-1152-9
Genre: classical crime
Keywords: The Lake district mystery, Hannah Scarlett, Daniel Kind, family relationships, betrayal, murder, cold case, effect of divorce on the children, dangers of farm life,
Grade: 5/5
Callum and Orla are brother and sister, he is 14 and she is 7, their parents are divorced and have married again, but they are neighbours. Twenty years ago Callum disappeared, is he murdered or did he run away; his father’s brother, Philip was the last to have seen him, but police released him and then he committed suicide. So everybody assumed that he must be guilty. These events have painted Orla’s life for the past 20 years. She is back in the Lake district working in St. Herbert’s Residential Library where Daniel King is researching his book, on murder and Thomas De Quincey. Daniel encourages Orla to contact Hannah Scarlett, she is in charge of the police cold cases.
Orla commits suicide on her father’s farm by jumping into the silo full of grain, a fact that make Hannah look at the disappearance of her brother with the blessing of her superior, Lauren, because it all happens on the estate of the Madsen’ family that almost gave Hannah’s unit a prise for community service. Hannah is good at looking through lies and bad choices of witnesses.
There are some more deaths, a son the father knew nothing about turned up, Orla thought he was Cullum, his name was Aslan.
Hannah is in limbo about Marc, he had left home in the last book, after Hannah had rescued him from certain horrible death. He wants Hannah back but she is still hurt by his betrayal and selfishness. She is not seeing anybody. Her school friend Terry who has been married three times is trying to persuade her to move on. Throughout the books Hannah is attracted to Daniel, but afraid it is because of his father, Ben, who was her mentor and close friend.
Daniel is attracted to Hannah but afraid because his former partners, one committed suicide and Miranda left him. Louise, his sister is convinced that Daniel should get together with Hanneh.
So, throughout the all the book so far it is like a dance between Daniel and Hannah, with Marc, Louise and Terry in the background together with her new sergeant Greg, who has name being a womanizer, but Hannah has got to appreciate him as part of her team and a good detective.
In this book Daniel finds in his research clues and contribute important clues to the investigation; all is found.
QUOTE:
Page 34: Daniel loved travelling back in time, even if only in his head; for a historian, the past was a perfect destination.
Page 278: how often had Daniel preached to students the importance of asking the right questions
Page 286: there is nothing gentle about nature, it’s wild and unsentimental
My photos from the area
The narrow roads of the Lake District the road is between two walls of stones no place to pass two cars next to each other
THE FROZEN SHROUD by Martin Edwards (Book 6 in the series)
Published 2013 by a&b
347 pages
ISBN 978-0-7490-1465-0
Grade 5/5
Genre: classical mystery
Keywords: The Lake District, cold case, legend of ghost, copy cat murder, Hallowe’en, being inquisitive, police work, police politics, family relationships, Hannah Scarlett, Daniel Kind, love story
Daniel Kind had been persuade to give a lecture to a local group about his new book, his first lecture since he left Oxford, the organizers Oz and his wife persuade him and Daniel’s sister, Louise, to take part in a Hallowe’en party at their house, tempting Daniel with a ghost story about a faceless woman who was brutally murdered a hundred years ago, and a copy-cat murder 5 years ago both murders happened on Hallowe’en; in both cases the murderer died within 24 hours so they have not been rightfully investigated. Daniel takes the bait. At the party also Terry, the childhood friend of Hannah, is present; she has a new boyfriend/ fiancé, Robin. It is said that the ghost have been seen on Hallowe’en, so they go out to look for her, and do not see her.
Terry has known Hannah since school days, she has been married three times and divorced; her latest boyfriend Stefan, the Pole, who works in the bar, has threatened to kill her if she broke up with him.
Hannah has broken up with Marc, but Marc wants to come back together, Hannah feels he is bothering her by not accepting that they are over. Only after Marc finds Hannah in an intimate situation with a colleague does Marc understand it is over, but only after he barely avoid being killed in a traffic accident.
Terry disappears and it found murdered just like the two previous murders. Hannah cannot take part in the investigation but continues looking into the murder five years ago.
A question: what are the chances in life for a sister and her brother within one year in a rural area like the Lake District to find two different murder victims? (in book 4 and in this one); slim I think, but so far all the plots in the books are well constructed and I have enjoyed them very much.
Quote:
Page 55: Hannah sometimes regretted the absence of an interpreter fluent in management-speak
Page 136: Hannah strived to be all things to all people. At home, the main breadwinner, at work, the single-minded career woman. She was mistress of her emotions, blotting out the person she knew herself deep down, to be.
Page 166: Trees were, in quaint jargon of police legalese, ‘roadside furniture’:
My photos from Grasmere:
THE DUNGEON HOUSE by Martin Edwards (book 7 in the series)
Published 2015 by a&b
348 pages.
ISBN978-0-1990-7
Grade 5/5
Genre: classical mystery
Keywords: the Lake District, cold case, police work, police politics, betrayal, evil, family relationships, Hannah Scarlett, Daniel Kind, love story
Twenty years ago, Malcom killed his wife and daughter, that is the official story. Malcom’s wife Lysette’s best friend since childhood was Cheryl, Ben Kind’s girlfriend for whom he had left his wife and children, Daniel and Louise. Ben did not take part in the investigation but had told Hannah that the story did not fit or seem right. Now two teenage girls have disappeared, their families were associated with those murders. Lily disappeared three years ago and now Shona. Is there a connection. Hannah starts to investigate Lily’s disappearance; no body had been found.
Quote:
Page 116: The mantra in the public sector nowadays was Do more with less
Page 202: Hannah’s failing, like Ben’s, was that she seldom even noticed easy ways out, far less took them
Page 241: how exhilarating to deliver justice to people who have waited years to learn the truth about a crime that once seemed insoluble.
THE CROOKED HOUSE by Martin Edwards (book 8 in the series)
Published 2021 by a&b
378 pages
ISBN 978-0-7490-2796-4
Ramona Smith disappeared 20 years ago; Ben was convinced she had been murdered by her former employer and disposed up in Morecombe Bay. George Lace was found not guilty, but he committed suicide and everybody assumed it was a sign of guilt. Twenty years later on the same date his son Darren committed suicide in the same way: walking into the Bay and getting caught in the quicksand and drowned. Darren’s former girl friend is very critical of the police work that was done by Ben Kind, but he is dead having been the victim of a hit and run accident some years ago. Hannah is charged to find out what happened.
Usually in cases of rape and other sexual abuse it is ‘she said-he said’ so often women will not come forward to be hassled by male policemen. In this book Ramona found a way to get had her rapist and his family who covered it up. Of course revenge should not be the rule, but it is satisfying for once that the supposed victim got the better of the bad people.
In the book it turns out that Ben was purposefully killed because of his involvement in this case. Daniel and Louise were saved by Hannah in the 99th second before they were killed as well.
Quote:
History repeats itself, but never in quite the same way.
My thoughts on this series:
I loved all the books and I hope there will be more coming, the people and communities are likeable and seem natural and realistic.
Hannah is a likeable person, a professional; all the time trying to do her best an bring justice to the victims; fighting police bureaucracy. She is always doubting herself and whether she is doing the right thing, at work and in her personal life. But I like that because I do that as well. She keeps her humanity in spite of the most horrible crimes.
I sit with a feeling that we as a society must do better than have so many children being exposed to violence, drugs, neglect, sexual abuse. This of course is not the questions a crime series should explore. It just makes me wonder.
So, thank you Martin Edwards, I have enjoyed myself very much with this series; I hope more will come.
Views from The Lake District, Longdale.
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