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Chivers Audio Books Format: Audiobook,

RRP: £43.42
A well-spun yarn, but not too colorful
Review date: 2003-10-17 Rating: 6 out of 10

The chief suspects in this murder mystery each describe their version of events, some eighteen months after the crime. This gives the story a most unusual and intriguing structure. The characters are well drawn, distinct without being overstated. There is also a fine sense of period and place, those being wartime New Zealand.

So why a grudging three stars? Well, the solution to the puzzle is rather plodding; a systematic analysis of details rather than a brilliant insight. Also there is a general dullness about the characters and their setting. I suppose that's not surprising, given they are on a remote farm in winter, suffering the deprivations of war and trying to come to terms with an unsolved murder. But it would have benefited from the occasional comic relief or lightness of touch that Dorothy L Sayers or Conan Doyle could have brought to it.

All in all, recommended for the unusual structure and setting (albeit the 'local colour' is mostly grey) and for the quality of the writing, which is very good, but don't expect a classic puzzle. The author even makes one error in the solution (don't worry, this is not a spoiler) when Alleyn says "Only (the guilty person) could have put...". Actually, one other person could have; namely the one who found said item. I will however concede that the build up to the climax is genuinely suspenseful.