I am glad this new Jane Casey lives up to your expectations. Miriam and I enjoyed her debut very much so I´d definitely also jump at a half-price offer. (I have checked the Kindle price - not too bad either).

The plot idea seems fine. A pity that the story did not live up to your expectations on other scores. And with regard to the two women, I said to Ole last night that in a modern series, you have to have some unhappy relationships. Marital bliss doesn´t sell.

This is mean indeed! I suppose Simon Beckett and Ann Cleeves will have to go on the list, but we´ll see about the others.

Maxine, I do remember. Probably because it is a Scandinavian writer.

Oh, just for a second I thought it was *Elly* Griffiths. Well, this one doesn´t sound bad either. I don´t mind *reading* about dentists. It is so funny, though, that I have hever heard the least about this Norwegian writer in Scandinavia.

AbeBooks sell Total Eclipse from £ 0.63 + shipping.

So American readers also suffer from these restrictions? I thought you could buy just about anything from Amazon.com. You have tempted me to buy Total Eclipse months ago, but as it is not an e-book, I will probably pick another one first ;) And no doubt I will get to "The Hunting Season" before or later - e-book or not. The funny thing is that I had planned to begin reading Laura Wilson´s "Stratton´s War" today, but when my Kindle arrived, I pushed that button and downloaded her "Dying Voices" instead.

I agree with Sharon: lethally dull characters may make me throw the book through the room in despair. No matter how good the setting and the plot, if I don´t give a toss about what happens to anyone, the writer runs the risk that I give up the book after a few chapters. When it comes to crimes, I prefer murder, but the very best writers can make me enjoy even a bank robbery.

I have only skimmed parts of your review as I haven´t read Stratton´s War yet. It is on my TBR, and I expect to love it, but I have to plan my reading and writing a bit so it will have to wait until I am ready to tackle a story of 450 pages in a few days. I know that if I end up reading it over two weeks, I won´t appreciate it the way it deserves. I don´t usually pick stories based on true crime either so I only read Megan Abbott´s "Bury Me Deep" because I won it. Lucky for me as the book bowled me over completely. I don´t remember many books I read last year, but I remember the impact of that one.

Vera Stanhope in a sauna? That book is definitely a must, but my guess is she got lost or had some professional reason to be there. Brian McGilloway is also good news but I can wait a bit as I have two Devlin novels on my shelf.

You seem to have had a fantastic month! I am really looking forward to Blacklands, but I have a few books I ´should´ read first. I joined netgalley recently, and when I didn´t get the first books I asked for, I asked for a third which I got immediately. And of course I received the first two the day after that. I am having problems with the format, though, so I am thinking about that Kindle again. If there are enough review examples around for Kindle, it doesn´t really matter if Waterstones will sell them to me or not, does it? ;)

As Margot said .... (but I can´t always be here before Margot :D) I have only read the first David Hunter story yet, but though I am looking forward to two and three (on my TBR), I don´t want to gobble three down in a row. Good stories should be cherished!

Slowly uncovering the secrets of some women´s lives - I think I smell a delicious story here. I am happy that you seem to have had good company on your day off!

So well put! I am happy that our Discount Noir ebook is available everywhere and in several formats, but with the recent development (Waterstones e.g.) I have made up my mind it is definitely not the right time for a Danish lover of English fiction to buy that e-reader.

She sounds like a great protagonist, one of those stubborn women who won´t take no for an answer. I just began reading one of McDermid´s Kate Brannigan stories, and I am sure I´ll also enjoy getting to know her!

As you say, my review is mostly positive. Still, I did mention that the protag was not necessarily likeable, and that parts of the plot were a bit like Greek tragedy ;D I read it as part of the global reading challenge, and therefore I wrote a short post about Cemetery Lake called ´a city is a city is a city´ as I agree with you that it could have been set in any place.

I like what I hear! And I am awaiting your review eagerly. (Just passed "Twisted Wing" on to my son; I think he will also enjoy it a lot).

I am all for testing things (especially for free) so I also joined Netgalley today. You see, when some of my important suppliers begin reading e-books (which they can´t send off to new homes), I´ll have to find other sources to get some *new* crime fiction :D And I suspect I will also buy a real e-reader before long, but not until I am sure which one suits me best. So your, Kerrie and Bernadette´s posts are very useful.

Definitely a book for my wishlist. I liked his Lydmouth series very much, and I have one or two of his books on my TBR. Though I enjoy good historical fiction, I don´t read it very often, but that is only because it demands more concentration (at least British fiction - well, it isn´t my history after all ;D)

You are not the only one who has pointed out weaknesses in her third book, but after her second which I read recently, it is definitely on my list. How smart of you to borrow library books instead of buying them; perhaps for once my TBR is growing faster than yours. I decided to downsize mine recently, and August was a good month, but somehow it grows quite inexplicably this month ;)