Val Mc Dermid writes terrific Crime Stories, No Doubt about it. I'll not go into the plot, it's been done in previous posts. As Mentioned the time shifts can be a bit confusing. I had to keep Referring back to see Which era we were in. She deals very realistically with the Miners Strike, and does not spare with her criticism of the strike leaders and Thatcher, that's just a 'by the way'. It's a good read rolicking, but I found the Ending rushed. As if she tired of what the whole thing and just wanted to wrap it up quickly. But for that it would have 5 stars.