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Death on a Quiet Day by Michael Innes

Death on a Quiet Day - Michael Innes

David Henchman,a young undergraduate,several other young cubs and their tutor are participating in a reading party. In the morning they pore over texts and in the afternoon they climb hills and discover Dartmoor ‘s treasures. One morning David visits Knack Tor with its magnificent views. When he finally, after a stiff climb,arrives at the top he is not alone. A corpse awaits him there. He then calls for help and manages to attract the attention of a casual passerby. But this hiker seems to have an altogether different agenda. What follows is a wilde chase through heather ,moors,meadows and country lanes. When David finally finds himself in a more safe environment, Inspector Appleby enters the story… I’ve read novels by Michael Innes before and it always amounts to the same thing,sometimes the storyline is definitely worthwhile and sometimes it is all over the place. More than one third of the book consists of young David’s adventures while being chased by the assailants. It feels as if it never going to end and when it finally does, we are confronted by spies and not very intelligent or successful ones. There is definitely a boy scout feeling about. Fine if you like it but it didn’t really work for me.

 

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The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths

The Stone Circle - Elly Griffiths

DCI Nelson receives anonymous letters letting him know that he has to look for a stone circle and all will be revealed. Those letters remind him of a previous dramatic case which ended with the death of a young child and two men (one of them a murderer). Meanwhile next to an archaeological dig on a beach in Norfolk a new site is started. The bones of a young girl (Bronze Age) are discovered but after futher excavation another,more recent skeleton is found. It is quickly identified as the remains of Margaret Lacey,a 12 year old girl gone missing some 20 years ago. Ruth Galloway is asked to give some forensic backup and is so one more time involved in a crime investigation run by Harry Nelson,lover,not lover,maybe lover… In the meantime, one of the original suspects is found dead,shot through the head in a more modern variation of a stone circle. There are of course many meandering storylines,a missing baby,a new baby for Nelson,druids and their outlook on life and a blast from the past …. To be fair,after the 10th instalment in this series, I was a bit fed up with this Nelson and Galloway thing,it basically took up most of the story! It is still a big deal and frankly I wish they just made up their minds,personally I think it doesn’t add anything of major interest …but the storyline is good,the tension is absolutely there ,the outcome suprising and it really was a very decent mystery story!