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The Grave Tattoo

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The Grave Tattoo

By: Val McDermid
Narrated by: Julie Maisey
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About this listen

When torrential summer rains uncover a bizarrely tattooed body on a Lake District hillside, old wives' tales also come swirling to the surface. For centuries Lakelanders have whispered that Fletcher Christian staged the massacre on Pitcairn so that he could return home. And there he told his story to an old friend and schoolmate, William Wordsworth, who turned it into a long narrative poem.

Wordsworth specialist Jane Gresham, herself a native of the Lake District, feels compelled to discover once and for all whether the manuscript ever existed - and whether it still exists today....

©2006 Val McDermid (P)2006 W. F. Howes Ltd Amateur Sleuths Crime Thrillers Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Mystery Small Town & Rural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Thriller Crime Detective Exciting

Critic reviews

"Absorbing modern mystery." ( Times)
"An irresistible combination of contemporary psychological thriller and historical mystery." (Tess Gerritsen)
All stars
Most relevant
A really good performance from the narrator, notwithstanding a couple of inflection errors midway through. This story has the potential to be interesting, albeit to a somewhat limited market of listeners with a liking for the Lakes & Wordsworth. However, the characterizations are so one dimensional & wooden, that despite the best efforts of the narrator, no empathy is felt at any level. It’s rare to feel absolutely no interest in the experiences of any of the characters - but that is the case with the characters in this book. Relying on cliched assumptions about the characters socio- economic backgrounds just adds to the leaden feel of this piece.
I persevered to the end, and enjoyed some aspects of it, but it is very low on my list of recommendations.

Interesting construct with dull execution

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A well written, though perhaps a little protracted, tale. The historical elements sometimes stretch the imagination but generally hold the narrative together.
The narration is good - though I’m not sure why all the residents of The Lake District have north east accents.
The kind of audio book you might enjoy on holiday or when out for a walk through the fells.

Far fetched but nonetheless enjoyable

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Started off a bit slow but once in I could not stop listening. Will definitely go back for more from this author.

Lovely Listen

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Almost gave up listening to this book because it was quite slow to start but once the story began to unfold thought it worthwhile persevering .

Reasonably enternaing

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Book more of a woman's book, it was OK just not my cup of tea. The authors Tony Hill and Carol Jordan books are much better.

It was OK, just not my cup of tea

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