Liked the interstitials about the bounty better than the book itself, no real surprises, nothing that made you rush from page to page. I didn't like the implications about wordsworth, so perhaps that tainted it on me. ( )

Cumbrian born, Jane Gresham is a Wordsworth scholar who has long believed in the local story that Fletcher Christian, the man who led the mutiny on the Bounty and school friend of Wordsworth, had returned to his home county of Cumbria. Her research uncovers a letter from Wordsworth's wife Mary that hints at a lost manuscript and lends credence to the story, so when a body emerges from a peat bog in her hometown that has tattoos from the South Seas, she suspects this may be Christian Fletcher. Jane returns to her family home to track down the missing manuscript. However, she is not the only one interested in finding it and she becomes embroiled in a race to find the living ancestor of Wordsworth's maid.

I like the way Val McDermid constructs her stories. An initial, slow stage setting, ensuring all characters are introduced and firmly established so the reader feels like they know them and their relationships, before increasing the pace for the final part. This is when it becomes really difficult to leave the book alone, the story quickly unfolds and then the little twist at the end. I always feel a bit frustrated with the slow stage setting, so I become complacent and tend to miss what becomes part of the twist at the end. ( )

Als er een meer dan honderd jaar oud lijk wordt gevonden in een veengebied in het Lake district denkt Jane Gresham dat het wel eens het lijk zou kunnen zijn van Fletcher Christian zou kunnen zijn. Fletcher is een van de mannen die aan de muiterij op de Bounty hebben meegedaan. Jane gaat op onderzoek uit maar dat gaat niet zonder moeite. Er vallen in het heden ook doden en die lijken allemaal met haar zoektocht te maken te hebben. Goed geschreven met verhaallijnen die netjes aan het einde bij elkaar komen. ( )

I enjoyed the pace of this book and how much it jumped around in perspective. This is my first Val McDermid novel and I enjoyed it. I knew nothing of the poet amd premise of the book going in but that didn't stop me from liking it. ( )

University professor and scholar Jane Gresham goes to the Lake District to explore a rumored Wordsworth manuscript containing a poem which may be worth millions. The visit was prompted by the discovery of a bog body in the area. Her own family resides in the area. The first member of the family which may hold the manuscript turns up dead before she visits. As she visits others, the death toll mounts. Both a young woman Jane shelters and Jane herself become suspects.

I found the book quite boring. Although there's a bit of a genealogy theme in the book, it wasn't strong enough. The killer's obvious identity did not add to my enjoyment nor did Jane's lack of sleuthing. I expected to enjoy a book with historical, literary, and genealogical elements in an enjoyable setting more than I did. I know many readers enjoy Val McDermid's writing, but I suspect she's not for me. While I made it to the end this time, I previously put down another book she authored whose plot caught my attention because I could not connect with the writing. I debated doing so this time but kept at it to see if it improved. For me, it didn't. I think I'll remove any other McDermid books from my wish list. ( )