May 26, 2014
Twin Lakes Country Holiday Park, located in a rural area of England near the Welsh border, provides the setting for Gregson’s engaging 27th Lambert and Hook procedural (after 2013’s Cry of the Children). On unofficial business, Det. Sgt. Bert Hook tries to allay the fears of Lisa and Jason Ramsbottom, who have been receiving anonymous threatening notes on the doorstep of their second home in Twin Lakes. When reclusive Wally Keane, who lives year-round at Twin Lakes with his busybody wife, turns up dead in the woods, Hook, along with Det. Chief Supt. John Lambert, must visit the residents of the community on official police business. The two coppers soon determine that no love was lost between Wally and his neighbors. As cracks begin to show in the suspects’ various alibis, they must determine what Wally was really doing while spending long hours at his computer. Gregson keeps readers guessing until the very end.
July 1, 2014
A foray into a holiday community turns out anything but restful for Chief Superintendent Lambert and DS Hook (Cry of the Children, 2014, etc.) of Oldford CID.Taking the concept of community policing to perhaps a new level, Bert Hook agrees to help his neighbor Lisa Ramsbottom find the source of the death threats pushed under her front door. But the unofficial investigation requires a trip to Twin Lakes Country Holiday Park, a community of vacation homes in sight of the Welsh hills. In addition to their house in Oldford, the Ramsbottoms own a unit in Twin Lakes, and it's through the door of that unit that the offending missives have been poked. Once in the country, Lambert and Hook find anything but peace and quiet. Everyone at Twin Lakes seems to be involved in something shady. History teacher Elfrida Potts uses her vacation home for trysts with one of her students. George Martindale makes trips to local highway rest stops to retrieve mysterious packages. Richard Seagrave pretends dishy Vanessa Norton is his wife, while Michael Norrington isn't actually Michael Norrington, but rather someone who's left his dodgy past by the wayside. Twin Lakes' near-full-time resident Debbie Keane makes it her business to ferret out her neighbors' secrets, so when her husband, Walter, is killed, there's no dearth of suspects. Still, Lambert and Hook have to tread lightly to solve a case well off their patch.Solid police procedure once again saves the day, as death doesn't take a holiday.
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May 1, 2014
The idyllic British holiday village of Twin Lakes seems an unlikely place for any sort of trouble. So DS Bert Hook is surprised when his neighbor, Lisa Ramsbottom, asks him to investigate a series of threatening notes she and her husband have received while spending their summer vacation at Twin Lakes. Hook makes a quick check but finds nothing suspicious, and the notes stop. But then a brutal murder takes place, and Hook and his superior, DCI John Lambert, are called to investigate. They soon learn that peaceful Twin Lakes is a shama plethora of secrets hides beneath the village's tranquil facade, and when the identity of the killer is finally revealed, it will surprise even the most seasoned mystery reader. Gregson's latest is a fine example of the contemporary British procedural, with strong characters, intriguing plots, and the ring of authenticity in its descriptions of modern-day policing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)