Murder in My Backyard: Inspector Ramsay, Book 2

The second book in the Inspector Ramsay series is another enjoyable read. However, not much more is divulged about Inspector Ramsay himself. I would prefer the typeface to be a slightly larger font size.

Another of the early works from the Vera and Shetland author. More of a novella than a major story, we meet Inspector Ramsey again as he moves into the area we met in the first of these books.Plenty of shenanigans amongst the locals are unearthed before the killer is brought to justice. This is a pricey Kindle book for such a short story, but a must for fans of Ann Cleeves.

Ann Cleeves is one of my favourite crime authors although she's perhaps better known for her Shetland and Vera series.This is book #2 of the 6 episode Inspector Ramsay tales. I enjoyed every moment and couldn't put my Kindle down.Inspector Ramsay investigates the murder of old Alice Parry - found dead in her own backyard. She was universally well liked but, perhaps not as much as everyone assumed! There is plenty of intrigue to keep the reader guessing.....If you liked other books from Ann Cleeves, you'll enjoy this one too 👌

This is the second book in the Inspector Ramsey series. This time we see Ramsey moving into a country cottage in an idyllic village in Northumberland, near the coast. When a well liked and very respected elderly lady is murdered in the next village, Ramsey finds himself pulled into much more than just a murder enquiry, with village politics clouding the picture, Ramsey has to tread carefully and not make any rash decisions about who the murderer is. Ramsey is a strange character, very reserved but sometimes with great depth also. I think we are only just nudging the surface of his character and as the series progresses he will be filled out more. His side kick Hunter is a good character to put opposite Ramsey, young, keen and wanting all the flashing lights type of action, he balances well against Ramsey's slower, more thought out approach, it gives a good balance to the story.The descriptions of the village and the people who live there makes the story come to life and while this is no big "must turn the page and read on" book, it did keep me on my toes, trying to guess how it would turn out. I didn't know how it would end until the last chapter and I thought the ending was clever and very feasible. All in all a good "old fashioned" murder "whodunit". I will be reading book three in the series.

This murder mystery centres around local opposition to a proposed housing development in a small village on the coast of Northumberland. It is very close to being a traditional whodunnit with the standard set-up of a small cast of suspects, all of whom have sufficient skeletons in their cupboards to be susceptible to blackmail and hence to kill in order to escape the blackmailer’s power. But while most of the characters have motives for wanting to remove one or more of the other characters, the victim appears to be the one person whom almost everyone likes. And in the end, after many twists and turns of the plot, it is arguably her idealism and integrity that prompted the murderer to strike her down.

Latest in the work of an author responsible for the creation of Vera and the Shetland books.This features the rather sad Inspector Ramsay and is set in Northumberland .It involves a murder or two,complicated village and family life and special shady deals.When your head hurts and you want an on-demanding book that you can sink into and enjoy ,Ann Cleeves can deliver and does on this occasion

This book wouldn't qualify as classic literature. The characters are too stereotypical and rather two-dimensional. Even after this, the second in the series, we don't really know Inspector Ramsay nor care much about him. But the plots are good and Cleaves weaves the various story threads together in a way that keeps you guessing without being too complicated. Being set in Vera's patch, north of Newcastle upon Tyne, they have that easy familiarity with the area and, if you know the area, you can picture many of the scenes. I wonder if Vera and Ramsay ever cross paths. It seems unlikely that the two best detectives in Northumbria wouldn't know each other!

As described