Super sleuthing - Rated 
Five reviewers have already praised this novel and I wholeheartedly agree with them. This is the first Martin Edwards novel I've read and on the strength of it have already bought the second and third in this series of Lake District mysteries featuring Daniel Kind, an Oxford historian and one-time TV personality (more Michael Wood, I think, than Simon Schama or David Starkey)and DCI Hannah Scarlett who heads up a cold case review team. However, Daniel and Hannah are not partners: Daniel is with Miranda, and they are renovating a cottage; Hannah is with Marc Amos, a secondhand book dealer. But Daniel and Hannah's paths cross and there are hints of a mutual attraction between historian and DCI.
The Lake District setting has great atmosphere and the characters are finely drawn, with just a couple of stereotypes: a farmer all too ready to solve problems with his fists and a barmaid "whose carelessly buttoned cheesecloth shirt revealed more than it concealed." But the murdery mystery is intriguing with a neat twist ending. An excellent start to this series. Well recommended.
i need to know what happens next! - Rated
Having read some of Martin Edwards Harry Devlin novels I was intrigued to read the Lake District series.They promised to be a complete contrast to the characters and settings found in his previous books.I was not disapointed!I read The Coffin Trail and The Cipher Garden back to back and was totally hooked!The characters are wonderfully believable, the plot complex and riveting(I had no idea "who done it" until nearly the last page!).I know the Lake District quite well and it was truely magical to read a book which brought the beauty of The Lakes to life.I am sure anybody reading these books who hasn't been there will feel compelled to visit.I have not read The Arsenic Labyrinth yet (the next book in the series) foolishly thinking I should try another author but I need to know what happens to Hannah and Danial do they finaly get together? I need to know if the horrible Miranda goes back to London but mostly I need to see if I can solve the mystery before the last page.I doubt it! I can not recommend these books enough. I am now going to order The Arsenic Labyrinth and hope that Martin Edwards will provide us with more!
Atmospheric mystery - Rated
This is the first in a series of fantastic murder mysteries set in the Lake District. Daniel Kind leaves his secure job as a historian at Oxford, and, on a whim, moves to a dilapidated cottage in the Lake District with new girlfriend, Miranda. Some years earlier, a young woman was murdered and her body left on the Sacrifice Stone, a local landmark. Barrie Gilpin, a loner, who used to live in the cottage Daniel has bought, was found dead at the bottom of nearby cliffs. Case conveniently closed. Daniel's father was the policeman who originally investigated the case, and he wasn't sure of Barrie's guilt. Neither is Daniel, who knew Barrie as a child. The case comes up as part of a cold case review led by DCI Hannah Scarlett, and Daniel becomes involved in the investigation. This is an atmospheric story which sets up an intriguing relationship between Daniel and Hannah to be explored in future books. Recommended for lovers of English police procedurals.
Secrets from the past - Rated
I found this book well written with realistic characters. Daniel and Miranda have moved to the Lake District to get away from the past. DCI Hannah Scarlett feels she has been sidelined when she is appointed to the cold case review unit. Hannah worked with Daniel's estranged father before he was killed in a car accident. Daniel knew the man who was locally regarded as the muderer of Gabrielle - a beautiful model who was staying in the Lake District to visit her friend Tasha married to a local businessman. Can Daniel and Miranda really escape the past and did Barrie really murder Gabrielle? Barrie is conveniently dead and cannot answer but Hannah, who worked on the original case thinks Barrie is too obvious a suspect and starts to look at the case again. Stirring up the murky depths of local history can have terrifying consequences.
The Coffin Trail is very well plotted and will keep you guessing until the last few pages. I recommend it. I shall definitely be buying the others in the series.
Edwards does it again! - Rated
This is one sharp novel. Introducing DCI Hannah Scarlett, Edwards brings us a fantastic thriller which surprises and intrigues by turn. The Lake District plays an eerie backdrop to Daniel and Miranda's hope for a peaceful new life in beautiful Brackdale. However, secrets past and present come to haunt the characters, and question their - not to mention the reader's - loyalties, right up to the very end.
This a highly convincing thriller, perhaps Edwards' best yet; if you're looking for an exciting crime novel this summer, look no further than this.
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