Corpse Way

Yorkshire Dales Mystery #1

by Susan Parry

A quiet summer holiday in the picturesque Yorkshire Dales was just what Millie needed. No excitement, fresh air and huge helpings of her Grandmother's home cooking.

But Millie is drawn into an intriguing mystery that surrounds the isolated shooting lodge on the moor, the Dutchman who rents it and the sudden death of two residents in the village. Convinced that Lizzie Banford did not die of natural causes, Millie sets about finding the truth.

Set in the lead mining area of peaceful Swaledale, this is the first in the series of Yorkshire dales Mysteries.

Genres: Mystery, Crime

334 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

I am the author of a series of crime novels set in the Yorkshire Dales, featuring Mills Sanderson a young woman trained as a forensic archaeologist. I fell in love with the Dales thirty years ago and enjoy researching the villages and fells for the books. Sense of place is an important aspect of my work. I am a university professor with experience of forensic analysis that informs my writing and I take my research for the books very seriously. There are currently eleven books in the series .

Reviews

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Elaine Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad mystery but it was more like an Enid Blyton tale but for a slightly older group - it incorporated plenty of tea, coffee, lunch, dinner and picnics and a little bit of sleuthing

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those who prefer their mystery books to be quite gently paced then this could be the book for you. It is set in a similar geographical location to the much grittier Inspector Banks series, but there the similarities end. The plot line almost seemed to take a backseat to the history of lead mining and the geography of the area. As this is only the first book in the series I will still try another one before deciding if these books are for me or not

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately I had to abandon this book. I’m not certain if it is perhaps YA fiction or even for children? It was a bit Scooby Doo or Famous Five. Annoyingly for a book set in Yorkshire, all the locals were portrayed as stupid and all the Southerners who had moved up there as the only ones intelligent enough to work out what was going on.
I was expecting more from this book as the writer is a former professor of forensics and archaeology.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow moving but very pleasant cozy mystery. You don't read this kind of book for nail biting thrills but for the delightful English countryside atmosphere. I rather liked the shy awkward protagonist and her Gran both. The evocation of scene was also well done. I'm likely to read more in the series...

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the setting and found the background very interesting. Some of the characters were interesting but I was very confused about the main character. Apparently she was still in high school but her background wasn't clear at all. In her relationships with Pete and Naomi, she seemed more like early 20s. The story just seemed to have a lot of rough connections.

[Derek Osbourne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it is very simplisticallly written for certain. The characters lack real definition and I was left pondering the age of Millie, the central protagonist. She hasn't thought about university yet - which, given that she lives in Purley - a wealthy suburb in south London - seems unlikely because parents there are no doubt on to their children about university from the age of 10. And at some stage I think I picked up that she is looking forward to sixth form college. If she hasn't started that would make her 16 and if she is about to go to the upper sixth she will be 17 and even more unlikely that she hasn't thought about university because her applications will have to be in within a few months. In fact age is a bit of an issue for all of the main characters. Naomi is a medical student so presumably somewhere beteween 19 and 23. The two students, Matt and Andi, are also about 20 I suppose. But what about the student vet who is exerienceed enough to be left on his own and to be the vet adviser at the livestock auctions - I may have picked up that he is 26 - in which case what on earth is Jean trying to attach a 16 or 17 year old girl to him romantically. In fact everyone seems to be including her Gran.

The other main missed opportunity is the landscape which could easily be a character in itself. I have known the area well for fifty years and I have stayed in some of the villages and drunk in some of the pubs and visited the churches mentioned in the novel. I have even visited some of the lead workings. But the fantastic landscape is very under-represented.

Having said all that the story is solid enough and the dialogue rattles along and the pace is fair going. Although why they are so reticent about using the police officer who is a friend of Naomi's is a bit of a mystery.

Anyway, despite all the glitches I will be buying the next in the list. Partly because I love the Dales and the people there so much. This was a first book so I look forward to some development in style in the next.

[Helen Birkbeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am trying to read as many Yorkshire-set murder mysteries as I can and this one looked very promising. I enjoyed the setting, which I know quite well, and most of the characters were believable and interesting, even Naomi, who was a bit manic but not as annoying as some readers found her. I liked Millie's blend of courage and fearfulness - and her lack of energy: very human! Some might find the details of lead mining a bit much but I love industrial archaeology and social history, so found it interesting.

The plot moved on at a good pace and it wasn't obvious what the bad guys were up to and why, but I found some questions not fully answered, such as why and exactly how the two fatalities occurred. This is a bit of an oversight in a murder story! I suppose it was meant to be clear.

I would have liked to give this 4 or even 4.5, but the random disregard of standard punctuation marks, especially in speech, and mistakes such as 'passed' for 'past' jar on the eye and take away from the reading experience. A simple proofread would have sorted out all of that, so it's a real shame.

[SkyeWake · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting from the blurb. Very Famous Five-esque. The pace is very slow, padded out with far too much secondary information, yet at times, things seem to jump around and weren’t explained enough. Nice as it is to read about somewhere fairly local and find out more of the history of the area, it wasn’t compelling reading, hopefully the style and pace will improve in later books. I might try one further along as Millie was a nice character, although she changed her name during the story!

[Jay Dwight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just visited the Yorkshire Dales, loved the setting and a key reason why I bought this one for a read.

I'd describe it as cosy crime. Set in a small village, Millie visits her grandmother in the picturesque Yorkshire Dales. Soon after arriving, a friend of Millie's grandmother dies, and Millie becomes convinced Lizzie has not died from natural causes. Involving other locals, Millie sets out for some amateur sleuthing and finds there is in fact more to Lizzie's death.

[Gail Merritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mystery swathed in the evocative landscape of the dales.

This is a beautiful landscape, rich in human history and the perfect setting for a very modern mystery. Occasionally I had to check my memory of the characters but that was probably because I was swept along with my love of the geography. In a few weeks I shall be in Muker, taking the path that gave its name to this book. Loved it. Already acquired the next book. Loved ‘The Grand Depart’, too.

[Janey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit bland, although quite a bit was happening it didn't get me as involved as I would have expected. I will try another before making up my mind on the series.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book, the 1st in a series of murder mysteries set in Yorkshire.

Millie is staying with her Grandmother in Mossy Bank, while she's there she goes out and helps the 2 students who are lodging there with their uni work. There have been a few strange events which culminate in a good friend of her Grandmothers being killed. Millie helps to solve the murder and whilst doing so gets close to a local veterinary surgeon.

It's a good story and I'm looking forward to reading the next book.

[Cathy Cole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am familiar with the Swaledale area of the Yorkshire Dales, and author Susan Parry uses the setting wisely and well. From the weather, to the hiking, to area history and mining, the landscape came to life. It helps that young Millie is the sort of person who loves to go out walking for miles in all sorts of weather.

I don't know why, but I expected Millie's grandmother Helen to be a bit clingy and to demand most of Millie's time. (Too much personal experience, I suppose.) Helen was almost the polar opposite, and although she enjoyed spending time with her granddaughter, she also had a life and interests of her own and didn't monopolize Millie. I quite liked Helen.

I wish I could say the same of Millie and her newfound friend, Naomi. We're never given much of Millie's background. She's young and unhappy with her father's new wife, and she has yet to decide on any sort of career-- although she does make some headway on this while on holiday. She's naive and unwittingly causes a death. Millie is a (mostly) sensible girl, but she's not self-confident enough to put her foot down when someone is leading her astray. This leads me to the character that practically ruined the entire book for me.

Naomi. Naomi is young, pretty, studying medicine, and comes from a privileged background. It's the later that must have given her the belief that she and everyone else around her is seven feet tall and bullet-proof. Naomi is a loose cannon because-- as Millie later realizes-- "it's all a game to her." Her thoughtlessness causes a death, and she's extremely fortunate that the death toll didn't rise much higher.

Although the setting is everything I could have wished for and more, with two young, thoughtless characters and a mystery whose solution was too easily pieced together, unfortunately I doubt that I'll be visiting the Dales with Millie again.

[Bluejay44]

This is the 1rst of Susan Parry's books I have read. There seem to be another 4 in the Yorkshire Dales Mystery series and I will definitely read more. This was a Freebie recently and I was drawn to it as my son loves the Yorkshire Dales and frequently heads off there to walk.
I found the story interesting as were the characters (I do like mysteries though I am not into crime / thrillers generally). There were good descriptions of the local area which I had expected, both geographical and historical.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh dear - I had hoped for a more gritty read but found what I would categorise as a young adult read instead. The descriptions of the mining community's archetectural heritage was very good and made me want to visit the area to see for myself - but the narrative was too ploddy, stiff and basic for me. Sorry.

[Mardi D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was OK. It was slow paced, almost too slow. By the end it still was not completely clear as to whether there was one murder or two and the first death we find out was not a premeditated murder but accidental. I would read another from this series if I came across one, but I don't think I would actively seek for another.

[Katherine Thornton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good. The reader is obviously a fan of the Dales and Archaeological researching! I like a good murder mystery, and this was great! The added bonus is that the reader is a Mum of old school friends!

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book difficult to follow basically it was the famous five in the Yorkshire Dales. The story was a bit ploddy ,confusing and predictable. A bit twee for my liking but I made it to the end .

[Elaine]

#1 in the series

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very gentle read but breaks up the really gritty reads that are my norm.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intelligently written mystery set in an interesting location

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

College students involve themselves in a couple of murders.

[Libby Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book, made perfect by local knowledge

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this mystery. The description of the Yorkshire Dales and its history was very interesting.

[Karon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enid Blyton for grown-ups.
I enjoyed the Yorkshire Dales locations as they were all places we have visited.