Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Lying Dead by Aline Templeton


Title: Lying Dead
Author: Aline Templeton
ISBN: 9780340922279, Hodder & Stoughton, 2007
Genre: Police Procedural, #3 DI Marjory Fleming mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen

First Line: The wind had dropped with the sunrise.

When "Big Marge"-- Detective Inspector Marjorie Fleming-- of the Galloway Constabulary Headquarters in Kirkluce walks onto the scene, the only sound to be heard is the ringing of the murdered girl's cell phone. When confirming the victim's identity proves to be trickier than expected, and when another body turns up, DI Fleming knows that the task of finding the murderer in the well-heeled village of Drumbeck is going to take plenty of patience and diplomacy.

I've been a fan of Aline Templeton's Marjory Fleming series from book one. I feel as though I'm getting to know an area of Scotland that I keep bypassing on the way to Glasgow (and on to the Highlands). Wigtown, the horrors of foot and mouth, sheep herding trials... Templeton describes the area with knowledge and affection.

But there's more to the series than its setting. Big Marge and her detectives are multi-faceted and don't always do what you expect of them. We also get to see how they are when they're at home, which I always think leads to characters that are well "fleshed out".

This time around, Marjory is saddled with a detective who's on the fast track to promotion. As a result, he's much more interested in finding a suspect that fits his pet theories than he is in finding the actual murderer. Nothing like a detective making a difficult investigation even tougher! Add to that the fact that Marjory and her detectives are teasing one thread at a time loose from a tapestry of money and privilege in a small village that's been turned into weekend homes for the wealthy, and it's easy to see that this case is a nightmare.

Templeton always has an excellent plot and setting populated with some of my favorite characters in crime fiction. Lying Dead is no exception. If you haven't made the acquaintance of "Big Marge", I sincerely hope you do.

6 comments:

  1. Cathy, I had not been aware of this series, but now I am! Thanks so much. I love to find a new mystery series and this one sounds like something I would enjoy. I'm now on the hunt for the first book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Me too. I love Scotland and will read anything set there, but this series sounds especially good.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You've got to love a woman who allows people to call her Big!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kay-- It is a very good series, so I hope you like it, too.

    Barbara-- It's one of my favorites.

    Kathy-- It has just as much to do with her personality as it does her height! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have never heard of this author before! Sounds fantastic--I love new settings and authors who really concentrate on their charactes.

    Thanks for the recommendation!

    Michele
    Southern City Mysteries

    ReplyDelete
  6. Michele--You're very welcome!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!