The Coffin Trail [Paperback]

Martin Edwards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2007

Oxford historian and TV personality Daniel Kind and his new lover, Miranda, both want to escape to a new life. On impulse they buy Tarn Cottage in Brackdale, an idyllic valley in the Lake District that Daniel knew as a boy, a place so remote that the dead had to be carried out over the peaks on pack animals along the ancient Coffin Trail. Tarn Cottage was once home to Barrie Gilpin, an autistic youth suspected of a savage murder. A young woman visitor to the valley had been found laid out on the Sacrifice Stone, an ancient pagan site up on the fell. Barrie fell to his death near the crime scene before he could be questioned. All these years later, Daniel retains his belief in Barrie's innocence and questions his own policeman father's handling of the case. When DCI Hannah Scarlett and her squad launch a cold case review, Brackdale's skeletons begin to rattle. The wild geography of the Lakes District plays against local literary references, all backdrop to the lives of villagers and outsiders drawn to this beautiful spot-but for what reasons? The Coffin Trail launches a new series by a master British hand.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this well-crafted whodunit from veteran British crime writer Edwards (All the Lonely People), Daniel Kind, a popular historian best known for a TV series that tries to solve historical mysteries using classic Holmesian deductive methods, decides to retreat from Oxford academia with his new love, Miranda. By chance, Miranda falls for a cottage in the Lake District that had once been the home of Kind's late friend Barrie Gilpin, a young sufferer of Asperger's syndrome. Gilpin was suspected of the gory ritualistic murder of an attractive woman on the Sacrifice Stone, a local landmark, but fell to his death before the police could question him. By yet another coincidence, Kind's late father was the senior investigating officer involved. Thanks to an anonymous informant, the father's protégé, DCI Hannah Scarlett, is about to reopen the old case. The renewed inquiry stirs up a hornet's nest and foments resentment toward Kind, whose amateur sleuthing is aimed at exonerating Gilpin. Despite the implausible setup and thin characterizations, Edwards's book is an interesting fair-play puzzler that will engage fans who like their contemporary crime in an English village setting.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

In Brackdale, a small town in England's Lake District, a woman is murdered, and the prime suspect, an autistic young man, dies before he can be questioned. Years later, Oxford history professor Daniel Kind and his lover, Miranda, buy a cottage in Brackdale, hoping to simplify their lives. But that's not going to happen. The local constabulary has established a cold-case squad, and one of the cases is the woman's murder. And Daniel, who vacationed in Brackdale with his family when he was younger and befriended the autistic boy, has never believed his friend was capable of murder. Can Daniel keep his memories from consuming him and resolve his confusion over the way his father, the detective on the original case, handled the investigation? The author, either moving on or taking a break from his successful Harry Devlin series, has crafted a poignant mystery: atmospheric, haunting, and so tactile you can almost smell the moist air. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 286 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (April 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159058208X
• ISBN-13: 978-1590582084
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #714,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Martin Edwards is an award-winning crime writer whose fourth and most recent Lake District Mystery, featuring DCI Hannah Scarlett and Daniel Kind, is The Serpent Pool, published in February 2010. Earlier books in the series are The Coffin Trail (short-listed for the Theakston's prize for best British crime novel of 2006), The Cipher Garden and The Arsenic Labyrinth (short-listed for the Lakeland Book of the Year award in 2008.) He has written eight novels about lawyer Harry Devlin, the first of which, All the Lonely People, was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger for the best first crime novel of the year. In addition he has written a stand-alone novel of psychological suspense, Take My Breath Away, and a much acclaimed novel featuring Dr Crippen, Dancing for the Hangman. The latest Devlin novel, Waterloo Sunset, appeared in 2008. He completed Bill Knox's last book, The Lazarus Widow. He has published a collection of short stories, Where Do You Find Your Ideas? and other stories; 'Test Drive' was short-listed for the CWA Short Story Dagger in 2006, while 'The Bookbinder's Apprentice' won the same Dagger in 2008. A well-known commentator on crime fiction, he has edited 16 anthologies and published eight non-fiction books, including a study of homicide investigation, Urge to Kill .In 2008 he was elected to membership of the prestigious Detection Club. In his spare time he is a partner in a law firm and blogs daily at 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well written but Old Hat, March 26, 2005

By 

R. Mitra "mystery writer" (Long Island, NY United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Coffin Trail (Hardcover)

Starts off with a young Oxford Historian and his girl friend getting fed up and 'retiring' to live at a place where Daniel Kind, the historian, lived and remembers a brutal murder. His father, the policeman was never convinced of the guilt of the man presumed to have committed the crime, but who died-accidentally or by suicide. He left our hero and his family and Daniel exhibits the usual angst of sons in this situation.
One of his father's old flames, Hannah Scarlett, now is in charge of 'cold crimes' and reopens the case. She has a relationship which began at the time of the murder.
Nicely written, very atmospheric, and lyrical language which enhances the Cumbrian landscape. But the characters behave in predictable ways, the domestic squabbles of Daniel and Miranda are hackneyed. The usual village gossipers want to let well alone. 'No good will come out of digging into the past,' etc.
It actually reads like Christie's Hercule Poirot tackling old mysteries. Unfortunately for the author, while Mrs. Christie's books ran to about two hundred pages, this one, at twice the length, fails to totally snare the readers' attention. But in the end, it is a solid mystery, none too distinguished but then everyone cannot be another Reginal Hill.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fine amateur sleuth police procedural rivalry, October 12, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Coffin Trail (Hardcover)

Miranda persuades her lover Oxford historian and TV host Daniel Kind to leave the school that she insists is stifling him and she would quit her detestable job so that they can relocate and move in together. She further convinces Daniel to buy notorious Tarn Cottage in a relatively isolated Lake District Valley. Daniel is familiar with Tarn Cottage once home to Asperger's syndrome sufferer Barrie Gilpin, whom he knew.

Barrie was suspected by the police led by Daniel's father of a violent ritual murder, but before he was questioned he fell to his death. Daniel has solved mysteries on his TV show using Holmesian logic and always felt that Barrie was innocent. Additionally, Detective Chief Inspector Hannah Scarlett has reopened this cold case because of a recent anonymous tip. Although Hannah and her team do not want Daniel interfering, he also makes inquiries as he plans to prove Barrie was innocent. The two adjoining investigations upset several residents of Brackdale, who want their dirty laundry left hidden from view.

Although coincidence is over-killed to bring the son and the protégé in competition, readers will appreciate this fine amateur sleuth police procedural rivalry in which the who-done-it is cleverly devised. The story line is fun to follow as Daniel and Hannah employ similar methods as both learned from his dad. They also share in common the fear that their teacher bungled this case when he bet on Barrie exclusively. Miranda adds just the right additional touch so that the audience obtains a strong mystery that tracks THE COFFIN TRAIL, the path the dead are taken on to leave the isolated valley for burial.

Harriet Klausner

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Only okay., November 15, 2005

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Coffin Trail (Hardcover)

Daniel Kind and his lover, Miranda, buy a house in the Lake Country; a house once lived in by a boy accused of murder, who was found dead of an accident. Daniel's policeman father investigated the case, but Daniel never believed the boy was guilty. Now Daniel is asking questions and causes the police to take a new look at the murder. The locals are not happy, particularly when someone else dies.

The basic story, the descriptions of the Lake District and the overall writing were enjoyable. But this was offset by lack of character development, being irritated by the relationships of the two main couples, and the coincidences. The scene exposing the killer just wasn't realistic. I found myself having trouble caring about the story or the characters. It wasn't a terrible read, but there are many better out there.