This is a novel in the DCI Alan Banks series. I had never heard of the author before reading this for mystery book club but I'm glad that I found him as I will be reading more of his work. The plot, in a nutshell, is that a town that was flooded to build a resovoir has been uncovered by a severe drought. A body is discovered in an old outbuilding and DCI Banks is brought in to try to solve this very cold case.
It's an English series so some of the places are unfamiliar to me but that doesn't interfere with the story. Banks seems quite real and has problems, chief among them being that his marriage has failed and his son has decided that being in a rock band is a good career move. There are many books in this series, twenty-one I think, and it seems that Banks has evolved over the course of the series. This is always refreshing as you get to see how the characters change as they get older and deal with different issues.
The only quibble that I have is that the authors shifts POV mid-chapter, instead of at the chapter break like I am used to. However, you get used to this as the breaks are obvious since they go back in time and you're never confused as to whose head you're in.
If you like police procedurals and/or English mysteries then I encourage you to check this one out.
As always leave a comment if you agree or disagree or email me at jeffsemonis at yahoo.com.
Jeff
