'Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming, a resolute Scot, is Aline Templeton's new detective for whom a series is planned. A long-hidden body is discovered in an area isolated during a foot-and-mouth epidemic.The remote rural Scottish background, a blizzard, a feuding farming family with secrets - all these combine to make this novel a compelling read.' -- Margaret Yorke 'The build-up of suspense is terrific in this first-time thriller. Hope it won't be the last.' -- Woman's Day, Australia 'Aline Templeton anatomises a rural community, provides a contemporary gothic frisson and introduces a strong and sympathetic series character. The result is an unalloyed pleasure - an intelligent, character-driven crime novel.' -- Andrew Taylor 'Aline Templeton has been producing quietly intelligent, carefully plotted thrillers for years. Templeton creates a tight, convincing band of characters and has the ability to spin her story beyond immediate events to paint a picture of a small rural community in crisis. She is good at managing her plot and revealing details slowly. She has demonstrated that, just when we thought Scotland was saturated with detectives, a strong woman can elbow her way in and find a unique niche.' -- Scotsman 'Atmospheric and suspenseful classic crime' -- Good Book Guide 'This is a good, well-crafted traditional British mystery, set in the Scottish countryside ravaged by foot-and-mouth disese. Templeton's ingredients include a remote mansion owned by a secretive family obsessed by rearing pedigree bulls, a young woman who returns from the US to investigate her sister's disappearance, and a believable policewoman. The suffering of the Galloway farmers as their flocks are threatened and their animals killed is movingly rendered.' No.17 in their '50 best books for summer' supplement. -- Independent 'satisfyingly gripping' -- Scotsman 'This engaging mixture of gothic mystery and police procedural, with vivid settings both geographical and political.' -- Morning Star 'Strongly delineated characters, complex plotting and rich allegory: a really satisfactory read' -- Mystery Women's Magazine 'This astringent tale of psychological suspense set in a remote Welsh valley uses the landscape with an almost visionary splendour' -- The Times on NIGHT AND SILENCE 'A finely written and strongly characterised novel' -- Oxford Times on PAST PRAYING FOR 'Aline Templeton has a wondrously deft, unpretentiously beautiful style, full of good things' -- Hampstead & Highgate Express on THE TRUMPET 'A thoroughly gripping read, taut, well-constructed, sound and erudite' -- Margaret Yorke on PAST PRAYING FOR 'Templeton has wit, a strong narrative sense and a dab hand with atmospherics' -- Literary Review on LAST ACT OF ALL 'Templeton crafts a nifty plot amid the dour and inward-looking denizens of a Fenland village' -- Scotsman on LAST ACT OF ALL 'Templeton creates a tight, convincing band of characters and has the ability to spin her story beyond immediate events to paint a picture of a small rural community in crisis. She is good at managing her plot and revealing details slowly. She has demonstrated that, just when we thought Scotland was saturated with detectives, a strong woman can elbow her way in and find a unique niche.' -- Scotsman 20050604 'An unalloyed pleasure - an intelligent, character-driven crime novel.' -- Andrew Taylor 20050604 'This is a good, well-crafted traditional British mystery, set in the Scottish countryside ravaged by foot-and-mouth disease ... The suffering of the Galloway farmers as their flocks are threatened and their animals killed is movingly rendered.' -- Independent 20050604
