Play Book Tag discussion

Book 3 in this series was the basis for the first two episodes of the BBC TV series Shetland. Detective Sergeant Sandy Wilson finds his grandmother Mima shot dead on her land. His cousin Ronald had been shooting rabbits, and although he protests that he never shot in the direction of her land, everyone presumes the tragic accident is his fault. But DI Jimmy Perez is suspicious something else is going on, related to the archeological dig on Mima's land that has discovered a skeleton and some valuable old coins.

I really enjoyed the first half of this, and it was fun to compare the differences between the book and the TV show, which was very well done. I was disappointed when suddenly the action bogs down in the middle of the book and slows to a crawl. It did manage to pick up again near the end as the threads are woven together. I might just have to watch the episode again, though, as I'm not sure the killer is the same in the book as the show (I can't for the life of me remember for sure). Regardless, in both formats it's a good story.

I really liked the book. The part that nags me is the investigation of the initial shooting. A shotgun with small pellets is unlikely to kill a person from any distance mainly because the shot pattern is so big. Perez never seems to look at the fact the shooting almost had to be from short range. This means it was unlikely accidental due to fact the victim was wearing a yellow jacket. If the fog was that thick, it is highly improbable a rabbit hunter was shooting blindly into the fog.