Fine Lace - Rated 
Like fine wine, Martin Edwards's series of novels set in the Lake District improve with age. The Arsenic Labyrinth, the third in the series following the highly acclaimed The Coffin Trail and The Cipher Garden, sees the lives of former historian Daniel Kind and DCI Hannah Scarlett become entwined again in a tale more satisfying than a bottle of vintage Krug.
Historian Daniel Kind is finding the winter months at Brackdale tough, especially so as his relationship with Miranda is also going through a dark time. Far from the bright lights of London and with the renovations behind schedule and over-budget, Miranda has a bad case of itchy feet. The fear that she may just get up and leave isn't far from his thoughts. She wouldn't be the first: years ago a solitary woman called Emma Beswick left her cottage nearby and never came back. Her disappearance went unaccounted for, and the unresolved case always irked DCI Hannah Scarlett.
Someone knows something though; someone who keeps calling the local newspaper and dropping hints about Emma's death. With the case reopened, Hannah and Daniel are drawn together again, and discover that one person will preserve the secrets of the past, whatever the cost.
This, genuinely, is one terrific read. Intriguing, fast-paced and, at times, disturbing, The Arsenic Labyrinth sees the central characters of Kind and Scarlett as more rounded, more genuine individuals who continue to grow with steadfast assuredness.
Edwards's grasp on the descriptive, too, is evermore vivid as the sights and scents of The Lakes become ever more evocative so that one can almost smell the bracken, feel the mist and sense the knives being stabbed into backs by the locals, as gossip and innuendo increases on every page.
The Arsenic Labyrinth is Martin Edwards at his very, very best and is a complex though never confusing thriller that should be read by anyone with a love of excellent writing.
It's a good job I'm ill. - Rated 
I would of had to of had a "duvet day" if I wasn't already off work as I couldn't put The Arsenic Labyrinth down!Meticulous research,(I never knew arsenic was so fascinating)believable characters and a wonderfully intricate plot make Martin Edwards' third Lake District novel another winner. The story revolves around two murders separated by fifty years but the victims are both found in The Arsenic Labyrinth.I defy anyone to guess who the murderers are and why the murders were commited!Martin Edwards kept me guessing until nearly the last page again!!The characters of Hannah,head of the Cold Case Team,and Daniel,an Oxford historian who has down sized to The Lakes play a large and ever intriguing role but the story also has some facinating and eccentric characters.I especially liked Alban Clough owner of Cumbria's Museum of Myth and Legend and Guy(is that his real name!?)From the first line "you'd never believe it to look at me now, but once upon a time I killed a man" to the last page I was hooked.
It is hard to believe that Martin Edwards is a full time partner in a law firm and only writes in his spare time!If you have some spare time Mr Edwards could we have some more please?
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