We always love Ann Cleeves work. This is the first of one of her earlier series. I can see her growth as a writer. This was very enjoyable. We occasionally had trouble with the pronouns, trying to determine who "he" was. But it always got sorted quickly. I'm glad to have found these earlier books because we have finished all of the Vera and Shetland and Two Rivers books. Long may this wonderful author write. This wasn't the best narrator, I didn't think. He seemed a little sleepy, but the story carried us along. As always wonderful characters and a good mystery. ( )

You can see from the list below that I have read a lot by this author and generally really enjoyed them. I can't believe that I have never come across the Inspector Ramsay series before, but then it pre-dates both the Vera and the Shetland series.

Inspector Ramsay is a somewhat peculiar character, a bit reclusive and there is some mystery to his background which I haven't yet worked out. Maybe it will become clearer in the next books in the series, which I intend reading.

Harold Medburn, the principal of the Heppleburn school, is a nasty bit of goods, and no-one is regretful about his death. But who hated or feared him enough to kill him? It looks an open and shut case, but when Inspector Ramsay arrests Medburn's wife, an old flame, Jack Robson, now the elderly school caretaker, begins to try to prove her innocence.

It seems that everybody in this village has their secrets. When Jack Robson gets coshed during the course of his investigations, Ramsay realises that Kitty Medburn is not the murderer, but it is too late - she has already taken her own life.

A good read. I will certainly read the next in the series. ( )

This was a pleasant enough read, although odd in some ways. The characterization was patchy - Jack was fairly clearly depicted, but I kept forgetting who Jim even was (Jack's son in law!) and Kitty's motivation for her actions completely escaped me. Then there was the fact that most of the detecting was done by Jack and his daughter, while the Inspector (characterization slight) moped around the village entirely on his own, suspecting different people in turn.

Despite all these moans, it was a quick, satisfying read - it reminded me of Agatha Christie in that the first victim was so unpopular the entire village had a motive to kill him! ( )

This is just a good, solid, no-nonsense whodunit. There aren't a lot of bells and whistles, but the author gives us a village filled with flawed, complex, believable people, a victim no one is sorry to see dead, and lots of possible suspects. The odd thing is that the policeman the series is named for isn't really the protagonist in this first novel in the series -- I'd say Jack, the school caretaker, is the real focus. While Inspector Ramsay is all to quick to jump to conclusions, Jack is determined to find the real killer. It's a very short book which kept me turning pages so that I read it almost in one sitting. Very enjoyable. ( )

Stephen Ramsey series, very good series ( )