It was a snowy Sunday and I decided to snuggle up with a cozy mystery. You can't get better than Ann Cleeves, whose stories are filled with rich descriptions of not just the characters but the settings. You can feel the icy chill of the wind coming up off the water and the cup of hot tea in your hands. Hear the top being taken off the biscuit tin and the sound of tires on a country road. You're taken on a journey and find yourself wondering, along with those investigating the case, "What are they hiding?".
This is a stand-alone about a body found by chance and the secrets that everyone assumed would stay buried. I found myself unwilling to set it aside, reading it as I was making supper and continuing as I ate, discovering that separating the guilty from the innocent wasn't quite as simple as anyone could have predicted.
Rating : 4.5 stars
