Valley of Lies: A British Murder Mystery: The Devonshire Mysteries, #1
3.5/5
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About this ebook
A Village, A Murder, A Keen-eyed Sleuth.
In a quiet Dartmoor village, Dan Corrigan is a fish out of water. He's also a damned good sleuth.
Dan never walks away from a mystery, so when a murder is committed, he knows what he must do.
He's determined to solve the mystery, whatever the risks. The murderer must not go unpunished. Justice must be done.
But first, Dan must untangle a web of deceit, because in this rural valley, the river runs deep, but the lies run deeper still.
Join Dan in this modern British mystery today, because there's more to Dartmoor than meets the eye.
Michael Campling
Michael (Mikey to friends) is a full-time writer living and working in a tiny village on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon. He writes stories with characters you can believe in and plots you can sink your teeth into. Claim your free mystery book plus a starter collection when you join Michael's readers' group, The Awkward Squad. You'll also get a newsletter that's actually worth reading, and you'll receive advance notice of regular discounts and free books. Learn more and start reading today via Michael's blog, because everyone ought to be awkward once in a while: michaelcampling.com/freebooks
Read more from Michael Campling
The Devonshire Mysteries Books I-III Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Darkness Awaits Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Valley of Lies
Titles in the series (6)
A Study in Stone: A British Mystery: The Devonshire Mysteries, #0 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Valley of Lies: A British Murder Mystery: The Devonshire Mysteries, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mystery in May: A British Murder Mystery: The Devonshire Mysteries, #3 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Between the Tides: A British Murder Mystery: The Devonshire Mysteries, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Accomplice to Murder: A British Murder Mystery: The Devonshire Mysteries, #4 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Must-Have Murder: The Devonshire Mysteries, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Reviews for Valley of Lies
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A fair read whilst eating lunch or killing time, but the quality of the plot (and it actually is a pretty good plot) is betrayed by the writing.
Dan and Alan are the Hardy Boys (the ones from the 1920s) – time traveled and set down in Devon with their naivety fully intact. That cultural displacement is amplified by the plodding dialog and sophomoric narrative.
We have our two heroes rushing headlong into stupid situations, running their mouths off at the wrong time, and generally not fitting into their environment. There are far too many comments or thoughts that essentially state “I’ve got to solve this murder”. Well duh. It seems that at any point in the story the author isn’t convinced that we’re reading a murder mystery.
I’d recommend a study of writings by Dorothy L. Sayers (and Jill Paton Walsh) in the Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane (unofficial detectives) mysteries from “Gaudy Night” onwards. You’ll see the artfulness of dialog that leads you into the story (rather than slapping down a string of fairly dull declarative statements), or which puts you into the minds of the main characters through means both direct and tangential.
Also instructive would be the writings of Dashiell Hammett. Though very much dependent on terse dialogue and descriptions, Hammett was able to load a lot of information into very economical sentences.