Death is in the air. Death is on the ground. Death is everywhere for the people of Galloway. As a catastrophic virus devastates the Scottish countryside, killing cattle and destroying lives, Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming finds herself at the stormy heart of a troubled, trapped community. Pyres are built, infected animals are burnt, and farmland is dug up as burial ground. But the all-pervasive stench of death develops a horrifying, unfamiliar edge when human remains are dug up near the small market town of Kirkluce. Thousands of miles away in New York City, a woman called Laura resolves to unearth the dark secrets of her past. Determined to discover the truth behind her older sister's disappearance fifteen years ago, her journey takes her back to Galloway, to a world of suspicion, fear and menace. A dead body, a missing girl, and a mysterious family's dangerous obsession with bull running provide a sinister backdrop to DI Fleming's first murder investigation. And as the cold shadow of death looms ever larger over this quiet corner of rural Britain, one thing becomes clear: it won't be her last.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming, a resolute Scot, is Aline Templeton's new detective for whom a series is planned. A long-hidden body is discovered in an area isolated during a foot-and-mouth epidemic.The remote rural Scottish background, a blizzard, a feuding farming family with secrets - all these combine to make this novel a compelling read.' -- Margaret Yorke 'The build-up of suspense is terrific in this first-time thriller. Hope it won't be the last.' -- Woman's Day, Australia 'Aline Templeton anatomises a rural community, provides a contemporary gothic frisson and introduces a strong and sympathetic series character. The result is an unalloyed pleasure - an intelligent, character-driven crime novel.' -- Andrew Taylor 'Aline Templeton has been producing quietly intelligent, carefully plotted thrillers for years. Templeton creates a tight, convincing band of characters and has the ability to spin her story beyond immediate events to paint a picture of a small rural community in crisis. She is good at managing her plot and revealing details slowly. She has demonstrated that, just when we thought Scotland was saturated with detectives, a strong woman can elbow her way in and find a unique niche.' -- Scotsman 'Atmospheric and suspenseful classic crime' -- Good Book Guide 'This is a good, well-crafted traditional British mystery, set in the Scottish countryside ravaged by foot-and-mouth disese. Templeton's ingredients include a remote mansion owned by a secretive family obsessed by rearing pedigree bulls, a young woman who returns from the US to investigate her sister's disappearance, and a believable policewoman. The suffering of the Galloway farmers as their flocks are threatened and their animals killed is movingly rendered.' No.17 in their '50 best books for summer' supplement. -- Independent 'satisfyingly gripping' -- Scotsman 'This engaging mixture of gothic mystery and police procedural, with vivid settings both geographical and political.' -- Morning Star 'Strongly delineated characters, complex plotting and rich allegory: a really satisfactory read' -- Mystery Women's Magazine 'This astringent tale of psychological suspense set in a remote Welsh valley uses the landscape with an almost visionary splendour' -- The Times on NIGHT AND SILENCE 'A finely written and strongly characterised novel' -- Oxford Times on PAST PRAYING FOR 'Aline Templeton has a wondrously deft, unpretentiously beautiful style, full of good things' -- Hampstead & Highgate Express on THE TRUMPET 'A thoroughly gripping read, taut, well-constructed, sound and erudite' -- Margaret Yorke on PAST PRAYING FOR 'Templeton has wit, a strong narrative sense and a dab hand with atmospherics' -- Literary Review on LAST ACT OF ALL 'Templeton crafts a nifty plot amid the dour and inward-looking denizens of a Fenland village' -- Scotsman on LAST ACT OF ALL 'Templeton creates a tight, convincing band of characters and has the ability to spin her story beyond immediate events to paint a picture of a small rural community in crisis. She is good at managing her plot and revealing details slowly. She has demonstrated that, just when we thought Scotland was saturated with detectives, a strong woman can elbow her way in and find a unique niche.' -- Scotsman 20050604 'An unalloyed pleasure - an intelligent, character-driven crime novel.' -- Andrew Taylor 20050604 'This is a good, well-crafted traditional British mystery, set in the Scottish countryside ravaged by foot-and-mouth disease ... The suffering of the Galloway farmers as their flocks are threatened and their animals killed is movingly rendered.' -- Independent 20050604
About the Author
Aline Templeton has worked in education and broadcasting. She grew up in Scotland, read English at Girton College, Cambridge, and now lives in Edinburgh. She has a grown-up son and daughter.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Foot and mouth,
By
This review is from: Cold in the Earth (Paperback)
A deadly outbreak of foot and mouth disease has erupted in the Scottish countryside, with authorities forcing farmers to slaughter their stock, whether they were infected or not. The effect on farmers is such that it brings a number of them to the point of suicide and others to a state of severe depression. Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming is married to one of these farmers and is being driven to distraction, trying to coax him out of this dangerous mood. At the same time, she is involved in her first murder investigation when the decayed body of a woman is uncovered while the slaughtered animals are being buried. In New York, a woman decides to visit Scotland to search for any clues to the disappearance of her sister , many years before. The family who like to think of themselves as the upper crust of the town, were the last to see the missing woman, and consists of the owner of the property who has suffered a stroke and is unable to speak, his elder son, a police detective with an unpredictably violent temper, the owner's sister, an hysterical woman given to violent screaming fits and their nephew, a slimy, thoroughly unpleasant man, who is also given to the family's code of rages. D.I.Fleming has this ghastly family to deal with as well as trying to solve the murder and cope with her husband's depression. It's a very good read and I look forward to any others in this series.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
COLD IN THE EARTH - A very good read!,
By
This review is from: Cold in the Earth (Hardcover)
This review is for "Cold in the Earth." Even though I suspected the killer, it didn't diminish my enjoyment in the reading. The characters are dimensional and so well drawn. The dialogue is excellent, even with the Scottish terms I didn't quite understand. She descriptions paint visual pictures of the people and the area which build tension and suspense in the plot. Her writing is described as atmospheric, and it is. This is the first book I've read by Templeton, but it only took a few pages to decide it won't be the last.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really very good stuff,
By kashew (Zurich Switzerland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Cold in the Earth (Hardcover)
What a relief to discover this book, featuring "Big Marge" a no nonsense Scottish police inspector. Details of the plot are summarized already, so I won't repeat. In addition to the mystery story, which is engrossing enough in and of itself, there is also some very nice writing ... particularly when describing the landscape and its moods. The inclusion of Scottish "vocabulary" was not irritating, as often with "foreign" language throw-ins, but added local flavor and may even help out on our next trip to Scotland. I look forward to reading other books featuring Big Marge - wonderful to have another intelligent and human detective to follow.
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