MEME: Crime Fiction Alphabet

Hosted by Kerri at Mysteries in Paradise

By Friday of each week you have to write a blog post about crime fiction related to the letter of the week.
Your post MUST be related to either the first letter of a book's title, the first letter of an author's first name, or the first letter of the author's surname.
So you see you have lots of choice.
You could write a review, or a bio of an author, so long as it fits the rules somehow. 

This week, E is for Edwards. Author Martin Edwards first book in his Lake District series, The Coffin Trail. Other books in the series include: The Cipher Garden, The Arsenic Labyrinth, and The Serpent Pool. Find more entries for this week here.

The Coffin Trail by Martin Edwards, 286 pages

Global Reading Challenge: Europe (England)

Lake District - area in northwest England, full of tarns, and fells

It took me a while to get into this mystery, as it takes a while to establish the characters and determine who is who. Daniel Kind, and his girlfriend, impulsively buy a house in the Lake District to get away from Oxford and London life. Daniel is a historian, and professor and he is also trying to learn about his late father, a former police officer from the very area he moves to. He makes contact with his father's old sergeant, Hannah Scarlet, who has just been named head of a cold case squad. There were a lot of coincidences with people and situations to get this set up going I thought, as Daniel had a connection to the old case that Hannah begins investigating. Stop! Too much of this! I must be a tad more patient with the first book in the series.

In the beginning, I got a very creepy vibe from Daniel, and I originally thought he was the bad guy. This led me to have difficulty identifying with him, as for the first half of the book, I suspected him at every turn. (Also, I didn't like the cover and it made me think less of the book for quite a while. Sorry, book.) Most of my issues with the plot and characters can be attributed to getting the series set up. (Maisie Dobbs, however, made me love the first book and the set up to get her story going, so it is possible to be less abrupt.) The ending however, with its twists and turns, did make up a lot for the beginning. At the half way point, I wasn't planning to read anymore in the series; however, but the end, I'm thinking I'll give the next book a chance.

thanks to Susan at you can never have too many books for the suggestion to read this series. I so seldom remember who recommended a book to me that when I do, it's quite exciting.
also reviewed: nan at letters from a hill farm;  kerrie at mysteries in paradise;