An Old, Cold Grave (A Lane Winslow Mystery)

by Iona Whishaw

Paperback, 2017

Call number

MYST - WHI #3

Publication

Touchwood Editions (2017), Edition: 3, 352 pages

Description

"It's early spring of 1947 in idyllic King's Cove, and the Hughes ladies, mere et fille, are gardening and sorting through the jars of food that have been put up for the winter. But while cleaning up after the roof of their root cellar has caved in slightly, they are horrified to discover a small skeletal hand embedded in the mess. Panicked, they call Lane Winslow, the ex-British secret service agent, and, not without some misgivings about the state of their tense relationship, Lane calls Inspector Darling. Before long the police crew discover the body of a young child buried almost 40 years before. Who is the child, and why has it not been buried in the local cemetery? Inspector Darling, already busy dealing with a teenage girl who has gone on a destructive rampage at a local mill, asks Lane for help in unearthing the long-forgotten secrets of the early life of the tiny town, and the identity of the long-forgotten child. This delightful new historical mystery series will appeal to fans of Maisie Dobbs and Bess Crawford."--… (more)

Media reviews

Kirkus Reviews

Anyone who yearns for the good old days should think twice before approaching this gritty tale. Lane Winslow grew up in an affluent English household and served as a spy during World War II. A failed romance and lack of family ties have encouraged her move to rural King’s Cove, British Columbia,

in search of tranquility. Beautiful and self-sufficient, she has already been involved with two murder cases (Death in a Darkening Mist, 2017, etc.) and forged a working relationship with Inspector Darling that each secretly hopes may lead to more...A fascinating picture of a life in which many people spent every waking hour working and a disturbing look at the fate of orphaned children raise this mystery above the ordinary.

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User reviews

LibraryThing member Kathy89

I don't know how to rate this book. It was a difficult read. Its a cold case murder that revolves around abandoned children in the early 1900s and the misery that children endured. A small skeleton is found and the story begins. I found it extremely sad and would put it down for a day or two and

then go back to it. The ending wasn't satisfactory that these poor now grown children were constantly waiting for their past to come back and never found any real happiness. There's a parallell story of the police inspector and the young woman Lane Winslow dancing around their feelings for one another. I don't want to read anything else by this author if there's a constant pall running throughout the book/

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LibraryThing member SandyAMcPherson

Another saga wherein Lane unintentionally becomes embroiled in the discovery of a long-ago murder. Two storylines run through this plot and the mild romance between Lane and the Nelson police detective falters and flames by turns. This is a clever mystery, although I found the historical backstory

rather convoluted at times. Just enough suspense to add some tension plus a comfortable conclusion.

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LibraryThing member dooney

I enjoyed this, the third installment in the series. The plot is far less tightly drawn, or interesting than in the previous two volumes, but there is greater character development. The reader is gradually becoming more deeply acquainted with not only Lane and Darling, but with the residents of the

town. The story is not always comfortable for modern readers, who might find it dark and depressing. The author uses her small, isolated setting well and through it manages capture the tremendous changes that were occurring in the first half of the twentieth century, and especially following WWII as well as how different life was in what is, actually, not that distant of the past. I look forward to reading more.

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LibraryThing member jennybeast

I can't get enough of this series, and it's disruptively hard to put the book down once I start reading. It's the sense of time and place -- the tension between an idyllic locale and a tiny community and people who have come through the wars. The romance is also very good, but I think the ling I

love the most is watching lane fall in love with herself and her own independence. I also love that each of the households has their own character -- the Hughes are relentlessly productive and garden focused, the Armstrongs are mail and kind little gifts, Lane is still figuring herself out and learning her land -- its just satisfying to read. I also love that the series is following the seasons.

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