The Grave Tattoo

I loved the last Val McDermid book I read, I almost can't believe this is by the same writer. Indulgent nonsense, a back story so dull - but obviously not to the author - it kept putting me to sleep. And it kept being repeated and laboured over by more and more characters having to explain it to one another! I don't know how any of them managed to convince one another it was even a vaguely likely rumour, it was clearly bollocks. I tried persevering but it was too stupid and dull. Find a better Val MacDermid book, she's usually perceptive and smart. Too wrapped up in her own fascination with history here to remember to think about character, plot, intrigue and suspense.

A different perspective as the main hero is not a detective looking at the crimes, but a literary searcher. Of course well plotted and good characters. Very enjoyable.

Can this really be Val McDermid ? Never been know to fail . . . . but really not up to standard. Unsympathetic characters with carved from stone dialogue . Really had no interest in any of them and not bothered about their fates. Maybe a reissue of a very early work? Certainly reads like one

Great idea, well executed. Narration of the characters voices was convincing and this really allowed you to get involved in the intriguing story.

enjoyed this book, easy to follow, it's just it all comes very quickly at the end

Great storyline melded into historical events and characters. Narrator's characterisation through various regional dialects is very credible. Typical Val McDermid twists and turns and well researched detail

it took a while for me to get into this book but I really enjoyed the history lesson within it. A good holiday read

disappointed with the ending , no real climax. started off well. narrator was good and made the story interesting. like the connection to Wordsworth and the Lake District

Maybe would have enjoyed this more if the narrative had not been appalling So bad in fact that I struggled to finish it I really like Val Mc Dermid so it was a shame I wont buy another book with this narrator

The story is set in The Lakes & involves myth, legend & fact!

Torrential summer rain leads to the uncovering of the body of a tattooed man on a hillside!

There had been rumours, over the years, that Fletcher Christian had returned home to The Lakes, after the massacre at Pitcairn.

All through the story and the lives of people in the present, as they develop their theories around the body, reverberates the voice of Fletcher telling his old friend and schoolmate, William Wordsworth, his true story. Wordsworth in his turn developed the story into a narrative poem.

The story also seeks to find this poem.