Aline Templeton, Cold in the Earth (2005)

This Scottish crime novel is the first in the series about DI Margery Fleming.

After several years in New York, Laura Sonfeldt has just made up her mind to move back to Britain. Her marriage failed, and her mother has suffered from a mild heart attack so this seems like a good time. Sadly, her mother dies before Laura can tell her about her decision. Instead, Laura tries to get in touch with her older sister Diana who disappeared many years earlier after an argument with her parents.

Laura´s quest leads her to Galloway in Scotland where Diana worked for the weird Mason family for a few months. Diana was an adventurous girl who got to know the family via her interest in bullfighting, and she was very interested in their temperamental, black bulls.

In Galloway, DI Margery Fleming has quite a lot to contend with. Scotland is harrowed by the dreaded foot and mouth disease, and her husband Bill is a sheep farmer. So when the police find an old body on the Mason family´s farm, she is torn between her wish to show her father what a female police officer can do and her need to be there for her husband. Margery Fleming is a promising protagonist, nicely human and down-to-earth, and certainly a character I´d like to meet again.

On the whole, I liked the story, the characters and the setting, but there was one aspect of the ending I found a bit silly. (No spoilers; you will have to read the book yourself to find out if you agree or not).

As far as I remember, I bought the English paperback myself.

Aline Templeton, I den kolde jord (2007).

Denne skotske krimi er den første i serien om kriminalkommissær Margery Fleming.

Efter en årrække i New York har Laura Sonfeldt besluttet sig for at vende hjem til Storbritannien. Hendes ægteskab er for længst slut, og hendes mor har lige været igennem et mildt hjerteanfald. Desværre dør moderen, før Laura kan nå at fortælle hende om sin beslutning. I stedet forsøger Laura at få kontakt med sin ældre søster Diana, som forsvandt mange år tidligere efter et skænderi med forældrene.

Lauras søgen fører hende til Galloway i Skotland, hvor Diana arbejdede for den besynderlige Mason-familie nogle måneder. Diana var en eventyrlysten pige, som lærte familien at kende via sin interesse for tyrefægtning, og hun var stærkt optaget af deres ondskabsfulde, sorte tyre.

I Galloway har kriminalkommissær Margery Fleming hænderne fulde. Skotland hærges af den forfærdelige mund-og-klovsyge, og hendes mand Bill er fåreavler. Så da politiet finder et gammelt lig på Mason-familiens jord, føler hun sig splittet mellem sit ønske om at vise sin far, hvad en kvindelig overordnet kan udrette, og sit ønske om at støtte sin mand. Margery Fleming er en lovende hovedperson, menneskelig og jordbunden, og helt sikkert en person, jeg gerne vil læse mere om.

I det store og hele kunne jeg lide plottet, personerne og miljøet, men der var dele af slutningen, der var lidt for langt ude efter min mening. (Læs selv, hvis du vil finde ud af, om du er enig eller ej).

Så vidt jeg husker, har jeg købt den engelske udgave selv.
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