A body in the Lakes by Graham Smith

A Body in the Lakes by Graham Smith
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I went into this book with such high hopes and I really wanted to love it. Sadly, it just wasn't for me. It's a real shame, as I usually particularly enjoy British crime novels and the idea of one set in the lake district really appealed.
Half of my problem with this book was that I just didn't like any of the characters. The main detective, Beth, just hadn't really got anything likeable about her. She also didn't seem very believable as a person. One of my other major issues was that much of the mystery was dealt with by jumping to conclusions from nowhere. More than once someone was arrested on the flimsiest of evidence and everyone spoke as though everything was solved and wrapped up. For example, in the first couple of chapters, a man is arrested and all of the police officers talk as though he is guilty and don't seem to be interested in any other lines of enquiry based on nothing more than a missing credit card and a letter that someone has written to the police accusing them. I don't think so somehow!
The mystery itself was interesting and there was a lot of potential here. For me, though it was just not very well executed, which was a shame. Add to that the really misogynistic attitude to rape from all of the characters and it was the final nail in any chance of enjoyment. I don't know if it was the writer's intention to wheel out all of the cliche's that re-enforce rape culture, but that's certainly what he did.
There seem to be plenty of high scoring reviews for this book, so some people certainly enjoyed it, so perhaps you will too, it just wasn't for me.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.


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