When a lobster fisherman discovers a dead body in Scotland’s Firth of Forth, Karen is called into investigate. She quickly discovers that the case will require untangling a complicated web—including a historic disappearance, art forgery, and secret identities—that seems to orbit around a painting copyist who can mimic anyone from Holbein to Hockney. Meanwhile, a traffic crash leads to the discovery of a skeleton in a suburban garage. Needless to say, Karen has her plate full. Meanwhile, the man responsible for the death of the love of her life is being released from prison, reopening old wounds just as she was getting back on her feet.

This was McDermid's third & final chance to impress me (gave up on the first I tried & not overly enamoured with the second) .....& this one I liked!

Despite it being book 6 in a series it works well as a stand alone. I found no difficulty in picking up which relationships worked well & where there were established tensions. It certainly helped that the characters were all likeable & the combo of DCI Karen Pirie, Jason & Daisy is one I look forward to meeting again.

The story involves the working of cold case after a body is retrieved from the sea. At the same time Karen is already looking into the discovery of a skeleton found in an old camper van. The lies & secrets that are uncovered make for a good story, though one that I found a bit convoluted at times - I found myself often confusing the people involved in the cases being investigated.

Overall, a good read that has encouraged to try some more of this authors work.

On the way to daffodil-2....hope you enjoy it

Released as part of the 2022 SEPTEMBER SAPPHIRE CHALLENGE (#4)

Received in the post today along with 7 other books from Plum-Crazy. Thanks very much. I have had mixed reactions to the books of this author so will see how I go with this one.

REVIEW:-"I did enjoy this book but felt it could have been condensed somewhat. I liked all the Police characters but didn't always need to know what was on the menu every time they stopped for a snack. I thought the details about the paintings were a little too detailed and unnecessary at times however I really liked hearing about how the Police worked encompassing all the new technology but I was a bit worried about Jason at one stage! It was good how the investigation into two separate cold cases was entwined into one story. I would definitely be interested in reading more titles by this author but I may chose the slightly shorter ones in future."
I intend to offer this book to another bookcrosser.

This book was posted to another bookcrosser.

To the finder:-
Welcome to bookcrossing -you have found a travelling book. Please make a journal entry now to say where you found the book in case it has been moved. Then, when you have read it, please come back and make a further entry saying whether or not you enjoyed the book and why. It is now yours to do as you like with it, pass it to a friend or just leave it somewhere different for someone else to find and help it with its' journey. Of course if you can't bear to part with it at the moment then keep it, but please let me know that you have found it. If you join bookcrossing, which is free and spam-free, you can follow the book on its' travels as you will get an email each time it changes hands, but if you prefer to remain anonymous, that's fine too. Please also say what you intend to do with the book next. Thanks for coming onto the site to let me know you have found the book.

I already have books travelling in many countries around the world-a list can be found on my bookcrossing profile.

When re-releasing this book please be aware that airports are not a good place to leave books unless they have a specific book exchange shelf or area, due to security problems, so they may well just be disposed of. Also charity shops may well discard books that have been labelled in any way and they mostly chose only the books in the very best condition
to place on their shelves and discard the rest-so another bad release option.

Arrived safely along with its friends. Not an author that I've read before but will certainly give it a go. Thanks for sharing.