Murder on the Moorland - Helen Cox - SOCIAL MEDIA BLAST

‘Kitt Hartley wakes to the news that a murder has been committed in Irendale, a village high on the wild Yorkshire moors where her boyfriend, DI Malcolm Halloran, lived with his ex-wife until she too, was murdered. The MO of the two crimes is identical, right down to the runic symbols carved into the victims' hands.

Unable to leave it to the local police to solve, Kitt and Halloran travel to Irendale, where a literary mystery awaits. A line of Anglo-Saxon poetry found on the victim leads to a hiding place, and another cryptic clue. What is the connection to the murder of Halloran's wife all those years ago?

It will take the combined ingenuity of Kitt and Halloran, as well as Evie Bowes, Grace Edwards and, despite their best efforts, Ruby the (possible) psychic to solve this case. The moors may be beautiful, but they're not peaceful!’

There is something infinitely cosy about getting to know the characters in a series of books. So that when a new one comes along you’re already invested in them and their lives. It’s like renewing the acquaintance with a group of friends somehow. Or maybe I need to get out more! Anyway I like to think of Kitt Hartley as a ‘literary friend’. 

And because she’s my “friend” I’m rooting for everything to go well in her love life! Murder on the Moorland focuses more on the relationship between Kitt and Malc. Let me qualify that; the book focuses mostly on the crime! Of course it does, there’s a murder!  But we learn much more about Kitt and Halloran as people. My favourite Grace, and Evie and Charley and also Ruby put in an appearance but the dominant players are Kitt and Malc.

I found this third book in the series darker, less cosy. No less an enjoyable read because of it. It seemed more serious, some of the comic moments from the first two books are less evident. The plot and the solving of the crime hinge on the interpretation of some Anglo-Saxon poetry which is of course where Kitt comes in maintaining the  librarian theme of the first two books. But Malc’s detective and policing skills work in tandem with Kitt’s literary expertise. 

But it's by no means straightforward. And there are many red herrings put in our path before this jigsaw puzzle of runic jiggery-pokery is solved. There are some tense, nailbiting moments alongside the more tender moments. There are characters are plenty; eccentric, untrustworthy, sinister -everything you want from a good old crime yarn.

The writing flows with the ease you'd expect from somebody comfortable with their genre and comfortable with their characters. The plotting is intricate and therefore makes it very difficult to second-guess or reach the correct conclusion. Always good to have some twists. Keeps the reader on their toes!

Delighted to be part of the social media blast for this book my thanks to Ella Patel and Quercus Books for the opportunity. Check out what other bloggers have to say!