Customer Reviews

The Serpent Pool: A Lake District Mystery (Lake District Mysteries)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the unsolved crimes that always worried DCI Hannah Scarlett's former boss Ben Kind was the drowning of Bethany Friend in the Serpent Pool, a shallow lake not very far from where Hannah and her partner second hand bookseller Marc Amos now live. Bethany's death went down on the books as suicide, but Ben Kind always thought she had been murdered.

DCI Hannah Scarlett is head of Cumbria's Cold Case Review Team, but as so often happens, cold cases may have links to current ones, although these are not be obvious at first.

The shocking death of one of Marc's best customers, burned to death in a converted boathouse filled with priceless books, reveals connections between Marc and Bethany Friend, and Hannah wonders why he has never told her that he knew Bethany. The seed of mistrust, ever present in long term relationships, grows when Marc turns to an attractive colleague for solace. Just to complicate matters, Daniel Kind, Hannah's historian friend (and son of Ben) returns from overseas and gets in touch with Hannah.

THE SERPENT POOL is one of those stories is characterised by careful groundwork that then gathers breathtaking pace in the second half. I enjoyed the book very much. My rating: 4.8.

It is #4 in Edwards' Lake District Mysteries series, and while for those who have read earlier titles it is another very satisfying instalment, those who have not read earlier ones need not worry about whether they have missed too much of the backstory. I think Martin Edwards treads that fine line marvellously well. Those new to this series will find themselves hunting for the earlier titles. Among good news relayed earlier this year was that the first, COFFIN TRAIL, is being re-issued.

When I first received this advance copy I was excited to get into a new series by an author that was new to me. As I read the blurb on the back cover I was initially worried about what I was about to read. Maybe it was just the way the blurb was written, but it was sounding very confusing to me right at the outset. There were a plethora of characters that all seemed to have their own plot lines. It was confusing right from the outset as to how, if at all, any of these stories related to each other.

As our story begins, we are introduced to our protagonist, DCI Hannah Scarlett, who works on the Cold Case Squad in England's Lake District. She has been tasked with finding out whether Emily Friend, a girl found drowned in mere inches of water in the isolated "Serpent Pool". She needs to find out whether it was suicide or murder, and to finally give a sense of peace and justice to her dying mother.

As the case is re-opened, the confusion started for me. Like any good police procedural, the investigating officer must come with their own set of problems. DCI Scarlett doesn't disappoint. She's faced with adjusting to a new sergeant, who carries a reputation for causing trouble and being difficult to work with; she's just moved into a new house in the Lake District close to the Serpent Pool; and new cause to doubt her partner - Marc Amos, a second hand book seller.

It wouldn't be normal if Marc didn't have his own problems. We know that his business is suffering from dwindling finances and the death of one of his best customers, George Saffell. Just to top it all off, he is finding himself drawn to the attractive and enigmatic Cassie Weston, one of his employees in the shop.

As these circumstances are set up for us, the main action of the story begins. It is easy to tell, right from the outset that our author, Mr. Edwards, is a seasoned writer of significant talent. The writing is at once easy and gripping. At a New Years Eve party, DCI Scarlett meets Louise Kind, the sister of the now famous historian Daniel Kind. He is also a former flame of hers. They haven't seen each other is a few years. In those years, Daniel has become somewhat of a celebrity with his books, and with his appearance on TV as a historical expert. He has become recognizable to people on the street, which has changed his life quite remarkably. His latest work is a book about the brilliant, but opium addicted 19th century writer Thomas De Quincey. Little did they know - the dark secrets and strange obsessions they would soon encounter, would oddly echo De Quincey's own drug fueled writings.

As Hannah starts to touch base with the Kind's, she is drawn into a troubling new case involving the both of them. Louise had been living with the lawyer and book collector, Stuart Wagg, an arrogant and wanna-be socialite. He is mostly hated in the community, but most people take advantage of his extravagant parties, such as the New Years Eve party he has thrown. While he was throwing this big party, he was paying attention to other women far more than he was to her, the actions of a real jerk. She is seeing what he is really like and is deciding that her time with him is over.

As DCI Scarlett begins the new year with her colleagues and new boss, they start to try to uncover more evidence about Emily Friend case. Then she gets a call from her old flame, Daniel. He is asking her to meet as soon as possible. She can only think that it will be about their past and she is unsure of how she feels. Mostly good, she decides. When she meets him, he tells her that his sister has shown up at his house in hysterics. She has had a fight with Stuart Wagg and it ended when she stabbed a pair of scissors at his arm. She flees his house and runs to Daniel, sure that she has hurt Stuart badly. Daniel agrees to go to his house and see that he is okay.

When Daniel arrives at Waggs' house, he can find Stuart nowhere. He continues to look for him outside the house, on his property, but still to no avail. That is when he decides to involve DCI Scarlett. As the search is now handed over to the police, we are starting to wonder about what case is the story really about. Is it about the murdered book seller at the beginning of the novel, the re-opened cold case of Emily Friend, or the now apparent disappearance of Stuart Wagg?

This confusion is what I found most frustrating about this story. The quality of the writing is excellent, and the delivery and creation of the world of the Lake District is really quite engrossing. From reading about the author, Mr. Edwards, I see that this novel is the fourth in the series about DCI Hannah Scarlett and historian Daniel Kind. This would account for the apparent ease of the environment and surrounding characters. He has created a very true world for his stories to live in.

Ultimately, we do find out how each of the cases I mentioned above relate to each other, but I found the journey to finding out was more frustrating than mysterious. This took away much of the suspense of the novel and in the end I just wanted to get to the end to find out how, if at all, any of these things mattered.

Overall - an excellently written novel, but frustrating to read. The plotting of the book was almost purposely over-complicated, but that ran the risk of confusing and losing the reader. I feel that ultimately that is what would happen to most readers encountering this book. Having said that, I would still be interested in reading the other books in this series, as the main characters themselves were very interesting and the depth with which they are written, make them as real as you and me.

-todd

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>Special thanks to NetGalley & Poisoned Pen Press for providing the advance readers copy of this novel.

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The Hurley Edition - May 2010

The Serpent Pool by Martin Edwards

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Category: Fiction - Mystery

Publication Date: May 2010

Author's Website

I did not feel that Serpent Pool was up to the standard of the previous two in the series. Hannah's character was weak (I could hardly believe she was a DCI)and the characters all sounded like each other with no distinct voices. There were editing errors (scissors later turned into a knife) and overall it was unsatisfying. Any readers looking for interesting female protagonists and great (and creepy) stories should try S.J. Bolton - her three stand alone mysteries are awesome!

This is another excellent entry in Martin Edwards' Lake District mystery series. I hesitated slightly in giving it the full five stars, since the last few sentences of the book were a little lame, considering how well the rest of the book was written. Plus, once again we are left wondering if Hannah and Daniel will EVER get together! Still, it does merit a five-star rating -- and I can't wait until the next installment!!

Over six years ago in the Lake District, Emily Friend drowned in the Serpent Pool. Her grieving mother asked a simple question of law enforcement back then: how does a person drown in water that is less than eighteen inches? The police could not find a reasonable answer to her query.

With Emily's mom dying, DCI Hannah Scarlett of the Cumbria Constabulary Cold Cases decides to officially reopen that case in order to provide closure to the grief stricken dying woman. DS Greg Wharf is assigned to her; he comes with a notorious reputation, but seems competent. Meanwhile George Saffell dies in a blaze that also destroys his valuable book collection. Soon afterward Stuart Wagg is found dead in a well. Hannah visits Louise Kind, sister to the DCI's former lover historian Daniel Kind as the woman lived with Wagg. The only ties between Emily, Bethany, George, and Stuart are Hannah's current lover, bookseller Marc Amos who seems more interested in his new hire Cassie Weston than in the DCI, and Thomas De Quincey who died in 1859.

The latest Lake District cold case police procedural (see The Cipher Garden and The Coffin Trail) is a terrific intelligent whodunit as each step taken by Hannah and George leads to a deeper convolution to their original mystery. The enjoyable story line also pays homage to De Quincey (see Confessions of an Opium-Eater; and On Murder, Considered As One of the Fine Arts). Although the climax is over the top of Scafell Pike, fans will relish this entertaining English cozy.

Harriet Klausner

Martin Edwards' THE SERPENT POOL tells of a 7-year-old murder/suicide drowning case that comes to light again when it's re-opened by DCI Hannah of the Cold Case Squad. A problem serpent and new cause to doubt her partner, leads Hannah into danger in this riveting thriller.

The author is experienced, long published. He has four mysteries in this, the Lake District police cases, featuring DCI Hannah Scarlett and historian Daniel Kind. I admit, ever since I was introduced to the Lake District through the excellent novels of Arthur Ransome, he of The Picts and Swallows, I've been a big fan of almost everything written by for and about the area. Edwards has twelve novels and a sizeable canon, plus he's a well-received critic and commentator.

For those reasons I was somewhat disappointed by the long very well-written set of annoyances Mr. Martin, as narrator has put forth. He appears to dislike the wealthy, attorneys, police funding, professional police administrators, the high-born and the low, plus a bunch of others. Too bad. His annoyances get in the way of full enjoyment of a really well-conceived and rendered story.

DCI Hanna Scarlett, still coping with her irascible lover and book dealer Marc Amos and her attraction to historian Daniel Kind. Kind, back in the district is the son of Hannah's ex-boss. Hannah heads the local Cold Case squad looking at the seven year-old death of Emily Friend. Was it murder? Or suicide and does it matter after so many years? DCI Scarlett thinks so and she takes her upstanding sense of justice into a case that grows more and more complicated and closer to home than she care to contemplate.

It is often said that good mystery writing is founded on the careful and measured release of information to the reader. Martin is a master of the technique. Whether he writes about Hannah's personal problems with the men in her life, the interesting murders of two book dealers/collectors in the immediate area, or the weather which can be depressing at times, the author maintains careful control. In most aspects, this is a novel that can be savored and fully enjoyed.

This is the fourth novel in the series set in England's northwest Lake District, an area well-known not only for its landscape, but the home of Keats, Shelley, Tennyson, Carlyle, Beatrix Porter and Thomas De Quincey, this last perhaps best known for his "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater," but less famous for "On Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts," a reference point in this plot. The series follows Oxford historian Daniel Kind and DCI Hannah Scarlett, now reassigned to the Cold Case Squad.

A baffling six-year-old case involving a young woman who drowned in six inches of water in the Serpent Pool, a fairly bleak spot in the area, has Hannah running in circles. Was it murder or suicide? Meanwhile, two new murders take place with intriguingly disparate MOs, but Hannah discerns some obscure similarities. Are all three cases related?

All this takes place while a De Quincey Festival is being put together and Daniel is writing a book about the author, who influenced such writers as Poe, Baudelaire, Gogol and Borges. This novel has all the elements of the mysteries of these stalwarts: suspense, sinister aspects, hidden secrets, a tight plot and interesting characters and good writing.

Recommended.

"The Serpent Pool," by Martin Edwards, is set in England's picturesque Lake District, home to such luminaries as Wordsworth, Southey, and Coleridge. The opening scene, however, is anything but bucolic. An unidentified perpetrator sets fire to a houseboat; the owner, along with his prized and extremely valuable library, is burned alive. The victim "had no hope of salvation, no faith that it might be an easy death." The heroine, Detective Chief Inspector Hannah Scarlett, of Cumbria Constabulary, lives with a second-hand book dealer named Marc Amos. Three months earlier, they moved into a house that needs extensive renovations, but "the view was worthy of a picture postcard, with an acre of grassland cropped by dear on the roam...." Hannah and Marc are each obsessed with work, and neither one is in a hurry to make their relationship permanent.

Hannah, who is the head of the cold case review team, is reopening an investigation into the death of twenty-five year old Bethany Friend. Bethany drowned six years earlier in a place called the Serpent Pool, a body of water that is no more than two feet deep. There are those who believe that the high-strung and needy Bethany may have committed suicide, but Hannah finds this explanation unlikely. She decides to track down and interview everyone who knew the victim. Assistant Chief Constable Lauren Self, Hannah's petty and bureaucratic boss, is pressuring her to produce a quick result. In addition, Hannah senses that, for some reason, Marc is withholding pertinent information about Bethany. As she continues to pursue various leads, the detective begins to suspect that Bethany's demise may be connected to several other unsolved crimes.

This fast-paced and involving mystery has a diverse and lively cast, deliciously sardonic humor, and an absorbing plot. Hannah is a likeable and engaging heroine, who is intelligent, sensitive, curious, and tenacious. Marc is gorgeous and charming, but also a bit shallow. Other characters of note are Wanda Saffell, a libidinous and reckless widow, Daniel Kind, an Oxford historian to whom Hannah is attracted, Cassie Weston, Marc's good-looking and mysterious assistant, and Stuart Wagg, a ruthless and high-powered lawyer who is also an avid book collector. The lives of these people all intersect as Edwards adroitly brings the threads of his complex narrative together. The author's edgy subplot about the decadent Thomas De Quincey, who lived in the Lake District, satirizes our modern obsession with violence and sensationalism. "The Serpent Pool" is a smoothly written and suspenseful tale of greed, jealousy, and obsession. Martin Edwards leaves us satisfied and eager for the next installment in this engrossing series.