There were plenty of puzzles to solve in this outing: who has killed these men? why have they been killed? how have they been killed? why have their bodies been presented where they are? how did they get there?

The reader gets some help with answering the first question and hints are given to the answers of the others. Plenty of chance to exercise "the little grey cells".

I'm enjoying the character development of Skelgill, Jones, Leyton, and Smart, and even the dog Cleopatra who was added in the second novel. So far the plots have given the author good opportunities to describe Cumbria in particular.

I'm beginning to suspect that these novels are a bit formulaic, but I also have to admit I'm hooked. So far the plots have varied in their settings and in the methodology. ( )

This is the third book I've read in the series and it has all the ingredients I liked in the previous two novels. The lead characters are likeable, the plot is good, and, it's an enjoyable read overall. The problems I had with the previous ones are back too; the process of detection and the back story of the killings could have been more detailed. The description of the Lake district with its fells and tarns and other attractions is so vivid that I don't think I'll need any guide book if I were to visit the places... Only advice to first time readers of this series is to do so on an ebook reader, to avoid getting stuck at every sentence on the local dialect. ( )

It took a few pages to get used to the book being written in the present tense but I got through that to read about D.I. Skelgill and his team set in the Lake District.
A body is found, which at first (but not for long) appears to be the result of a climbing accident. Then another body is found. ( )

Even though we are given clues I was surprised at the ending. I was almost overwhelmed by British idioms but I muddled through. Sometimes his details were overwhelming so I tended to skim over the mundane. All in all I enjoyed it because I like long stories but some of this made me wish some more editing was done. I'm not sure why but sometimes I got confused with the characters in the story. ( )

This is the second in the series I have read. Inspector Skelgill is an interesting guy. There is dialect used that I'm not used to. I like DS Leyton and DS Jones. Skelgill kind of does things on his own sometimes which can put him in a sticky situation. This series is good and the books can be read as stand alone but I think reading the series you get to know the characters more. Enjoyable murder mystery. ( )