What a great way to spend a winter Sunday! This book is one of those absorbing, fast-paced stories which blocks everything else out. It races about all over western Europe pretty much, revealing more and more surprising details about the characters as they encounter increasingly hair-raising situations.

I was first aware of Denise Mina as a presenter of a documentary about Coleridge and Wordsworth and, later, one about Boswell and Johnson. She and Frank Skinner visited the places travelled by the writers, Mina always distinguishable by her shock of silver hair, fingerless gloves and boofy skirts: out at the hips and in below the knees – and her Scottish accent. Researching her for this, I found she has done far more than those two docos and has written at least 15 books.

After I discovered she was a writer of crime fiction, I looked for her books in the library. It was difficult to get the first of each of her series, so I opted for this stand-alone novel (borrowed as an ebook) and am pleased I did. I’ve placed a hold on the next one: Confidence. Can’t wait.