Les Golden

Fair warning: It took me 18 hours to read The Running Grave and I am reckoned a swift reader. However, for fans of Strike & Robin, as well as mystery/thriller fans, this is an engrossing, if lengthy read. TRG is all about obsession and the perilous consequences of becoming fixated. Whether the object of fixation is an old love, an actress or a belief system, is irrelevant; the novel shows that any passion that isolates the lover from the rest of the world carries with it the seed of destruction. All of the plots (and there are several) echo this theme. The novel contains passage that are profound. The action passages are riveting, the characters well drawn (although you may need to take notes to keep the names and relationships of the various witnesses straight) and there are several endearing scenes with the central characters of the series. However, this novel is literally not to be taken up lightly. Contrary to the brief, episode potboilers favored by much of the public, this mystery is a substantial story. It isn’t for the faint of heart or those with limited attention span. It’s for those who love “settling down with a good story”.