A Lesson in Dying

Love autor

Good read

It was a little slow to start, but it picked up pace and became interesting after chapter three. Once the story got moving, it became a more riveting read. Not Ann's best but a good start to a new series.

Ann Cleeves writes well; she is descriptive and creates a special atmosphere. Her use of language is generally non-offensive, which is refreshing in today's "literary" circles. She has created an unusual sleuth in Vera, a very under-stated personality (unusual in North-America, where I live), who herself is interesting study material for the psychologically-minded. The plots are good and holds me (for one), captive to the end. I am very much a beginner with Ann Cleeves, but look forward to further 'reads' from this author.

I have read all of Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope and the Shetland Island novels and I am an enthusiastic fan of her writing. Therefore, I was excited to embark on a new series with Detective Ramsay. Overall, I enjoyed the novel -- it is a solid, well-plotted mystery with quirky but realistically drawn characters. Ramsay is a bit of an odd duck -- an insightful detective but a bit of a bland enigma personally. Interestingly, he knows it -- all too well. His wife has left him; his colleagues don't like him and he spends a lot of time wondering if he'd be a more effective detective (and less lonely) if he could only phrase his questions differently, be a bit kinder, understand people better -- you get the idea. He is aloof, often abrupt, but fundamentally decent. His approach is balanced by his "Jack-the-lad" sergeant who seems not to lack an ounce of confidence and bravado, though he could do with a bit more judgment. Still, with regard to solving the mystery of who killed the nasty headmaster of a village school in Northumbria (and equally importantly, why he was killed), neither Ramsay or Sgt. Hunter are making much progress. It takes the grizzled, canny school caretaker and his daughter Patty, a bored but clever village housewife, to extract key information from the insular and secretive inhabitants. The result of their sleuthing reveals the sordid reality behind the oh-so-respectable veneer of village life and expose the repressions required to maintain the "respectability." What I really admire about Cleeves' approach in this series is her willingness to play with her successful writing formula. This offering has an experimental quality to it. Gone are the deep psychological probings of her Vera series, and the examination of the crime from different characters' points of view. Thus, A Lesson in Dying is a shorter, leaner read. Cleeves gets down to the basic elements of a good mystery novel -- clever plot, fine characterizations, evocative atmosphere -- but by relying on Jack and Patty to further the investigation, the author is playing with the elements in a fresh way. There is also a cozy element to this novel that I like -- the atmosphere, the confined space of the setting, the almost genteel aspect of the storyline (relative to the grittier, violent, and more outre novels of, for example, Val McDermid). For my money, Jack Robson is a great character and makes this novel sparkle, while Det. Ramsay is hard to warm up to. I'm wondering if Cleeves intends to develop his character incrementally and show him using the insights he gains about himself in order to grow as a person and as a detective. I hope so -- that would be fascinating to me. Thus, I look forward to reading the next offering in the series.