I like this novel much better now that I've finished it than I did while I was still reading it. Being my first DS McRae novel, expectations were high. The characters got to me after a while. Many of them are annoying and the protagonists relationship with them is a bit putting off. The main plot is engrossing enough and the side plots, although not riveting, are not bad. Good read for a lazy afternoon but I won't remember anything about it in a month. I think I just don't like McRae, the person!