A cosy-mystery novel of engaging content, good characterizations, and generally plausible themes. The usual "police person goes off alone and finds trouble" scenario was at least not too ridiculous, and does build some excitement. Ann Granger writes more than a police procedural, setting the scene effectively and drawing strong attributes into each character's personality. Recommended as very amusing reading with a little suspense thrown in. ( )

Somehow I had missed this newer series by Ann Granger, whose Meredith and Markby series I enjoyed so much. What a gift to discover it! Inspector Campbell, who appeared in the previous series, has transferred to a new police station since then and is getting well settled. She is getting a new superintendent, a Mr. Carter, and isn't quite sure how this will work out.
Granger excels at setting a scene and peopling it with interesting characters who often surprise you. Some of them in this book include a young woman trying to make a go of a horse-boarding and riding lesson stable, the crusty old farmer from whom she rents land, an accountant who occasionally helps out at the stables, and some rather sleazy characters with more money than is good for them. How they, plus the police, all deal with the discovery of a young woman's body in a disused cowshed makes for a compelling mystery with a surprise ending. I had to get the second book in the series right away. Highly recommended for lovers of British country police procedurals. ( )

Reicher Stadtmensch wittert ein gutes Geschäft auf dem Land, findet aber nur eine Leiche, gerät in Panik und flieht. Die junge Inspektorin Jessica Campbell übernimmt den Fall.

Schön: Es gibt auch Krimis, in denen die Protagonist/innen weder soziopathisch, noch alkoholabhängig und auch nicht ständig persönlich in die Verbrechen verwickelt sind, die sie gerade zu lösen haben. Ann Grangers "Stadt, Land, Mord" ist eines dieser seltenen Exemplare.

Ansonsten aber relativ konventionelle Krimi-Kost mit eher grob geschnittenen Charakteren und feministischen Unterton. Letzteres wirkt sich nicht auf meine Wertung aus.

Ein Teil des Rätsels bleibt (vielleicht ungewollt, vielleicht gewollt?) am Ende des Romans ungelöst.

Ganz nett. ( )

This starts out quite dramatically with a dodgy meeting and a body being discovered instead of the meeting taking place. In the hurry to get away, Lucas leaves traces of his passing. From there, the body is found and the murder investigation begins. It is being lead by Jess Campbell, who has something on her mind with the impending arrival of a new superintendent, Ian Carter. The countryside setting allows a fair degree of local yokel comment, but at least the characters are not entirely local yokel styles. There's also an older double murder that took place at the farm the body was discovered at. While the murders are not connected, the old house is tied up in the current investigation.
It's an interesting story and may well be worth looking out again. ( )

First Line: "Mud, muck and dead things," muttered Lucas Burton. "I hate the country."

Lucas Burton hates the country, but as he tries not to ruin his handmade shoes in the rundown barnyard, he's mainly thinking of the business deal he wants to conduct with the person he's meeting. The deal flies out the window when Burton stumbles across the body of a young girl in a shed.

If he thought that was the end of his bad luck, it only took a matter of minutes for him to think again: the local stable owner spots his silver Mercedes leaving the scene of the crime. When the body is reported to the police, Inspector Jess Campbell is in charge of the case, but with a new superintendent, Ian Carter, keeping an eye on her, she is definitely feeling the pressure.

I enjoyed the convoluted plot where identities took some proving and no one seemed to be whom they said they were, but none of the characters came to life for me. The major case in point was Superintendent Ian Carter. He was on the scene so very little, he could've phoned in his scenes and I wouldn't have known the difference. For a character-driven reader not having even the slightest whiff of an interesting character was almost the kiss of death. Only the fast-paced plot kept me involved.

If you like plot over character, this is the book for you. As it is, Mud, Muck and Dead Things just wasn't my cuppa. I have other books by Granger on my shelves however, so all is not lost. ( )