This concerns the deaths of two teenagers 20 years apart, and is told from the perspectives of Porteous, the police detective investigating their murders, and of Hannah, the prison librarian who has links to both victims, and finally of her daughter Rosie.

I found the writing clearer and more straightforward than this author's later work, which I liked. I could have done with more of the police investigation and less of Hannah and Rosie. The plot came together rather rapidly and dramatically at the end, although clue-wise,

SPOILERS

I don't understand how Porteous came to turn up just in the nick of time to save Rosie - how had he connected Hunter to Arthur and located the flat where Rosie was being held? Also, I wanted to know what had happened to Carl. ( )

This book rushed to the ending leaving a few loose ends...... ( )

This stand-alone followed the Inspector Ramsay series, but preceded the Shetland series.

Detective Peter Porteous and his older assistant Sergeant Eddie Stout don't seem to have made any other appearance, although they had potential as a detective duo.

The novel is multi-stranded, complex, and well littered with red herrings. There are some interesting scenarios and some well drawn characters. It kept me guessing and I really didn't know who the murderer was, although in retrospect there was a hint. ( )

I liked this but feel the story went on a bit long. This may have been because this book is a stand-alone and I wasn’t as invested in the detective characters as I would be wih Vera Stanhope and her crew. But it’s still a solid mystery, especially if you like mysteries with a long-buried crime coming back unexpectedly. ( )

I have always enjoyed the Vera Stanhope series as well as the Shetland Island series...both books and TV series so I was looking forward to this one thinking it would be on the same page. It's not a bad book but it's nowhere close to either of those great series. I didn't like the Peter Porteous character at all. I believe he was just plain tired of being a police officer and really wanted to wash his hands of the entire 10 year old murder. It had a slow start and just never got going in spite of it being a competent mystery. Good book but certainly not the best by this fine lady. ( )