The review appreciates the complex character interactions and the layered plot that combines a murder mystery weekend with a real criminal threat.
Judith McKinnon enjoys the intertwining storylines that bring together a diverse cast of characters, each with their own flaws and backgrounds, into the setting of Burton Makepeace and its staged murder mystery event. She finds the characters, especially Lady Milton and the conflicted vicar, well-drawn and intriguing despite some being unsympathetic. The tension between the staged mystery and the real danger of a convicted murderer on the loose adds depth and excitement, while Jackson Brodie’s moral ambiguity adds an extra layer of complexity to the narrative.
Quick quotes
It isn’t always the crooks that are the baddies, or not all of them anyway.
Jackson may or may not err on the wrong side of the law.
Lady Milton is an impossible character to like with her old-world thinking and arrant snobbery, but you can’t help feeling a bit sorry for her.