Set in modern day Norfolk, England, this is the sixth book in a series featuring DCI Harry Nelson. To say that, however, is to ignore the fact that Griffith has a whole cast of continuing characters who evolve throughout the series. The solving of the crime must share equal space with the developing problems and relationships among this tightly knit group of people.

This particular story revolves around baby-snatching and the death of infants. The story takes us back to the death of an infant in the mid-nineteenth century, and then brings the danger close to home when one of the main characters becomes a victim of a child kidnapping.

If you like a blend of the cozy and police procedural, you are sure to enjoy the Griffiths books with their strong characters and well designed plots.

Before discussing the book for this time, I wanted to respond to those readers wondering why I never write a harsh criticism of a book.  My reason is quite simple: if I find myself completely dismissing a book, I am humble enough to believe that it is possible I have missed the author’s point.  And another reader might see the book differently and enjoy it. Just because I didn’t like a book is not proof that the book is bad; it is simply evidence that the book did not appeal to me.  I don’t think I should try to deprive the reader of what may turn out to be a valuable experience because I couldn’t share in it.  So I simply will not review it.

Charles Todd is the name of a mother-and-son team, which is probably best known for the Ian Rutledge Mysteries.  Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard came back from the trenches of World War I with a severe case of what we would today call post traumatic stress. Not only does he periodically relive those experiences, but he also visualizes and hears Hamish, a soldier whom he executed for refusing to obey an order.

In this story two people are killed by a sniper, and there seems to be no connection between the two deaths.  Rutledge, sometimes going down false trails, eventually reveals the connection between them and is so doing unmasks the murderer.

This is the sixteenth book in the Rutledge series, and there may be some loss of novelty in the main character’s trials and tribulations, but the plot is well structured sand the sense of time and place is convincingly established.  It is well worth reading as are all the earlier ones in the series.  But I believe that I would start with the first in the series.

Tana French and Louise Penny are, in my opinion,the two mystery writers working today who have the most sophisticated literary style.  French has even said that she wrote her first novel as literary fiction and was surprised to see it categorized and marketed as a mystery.  Also, like Penny, French’s style is so meticulous in creating atmosphere and delineating character that some readers may find the pace of action too slow for their taste.  Others will be mesmerized by her ability to evoke a place and emotion.

THE SECRET PLACE is about a murder that takes place on the grounds of an exclusive Irish girls’ school.  More specifically it is about the impact it has on a close knit group of four girls.  The setting is a bit claustrophobic: all the interviews take place within twenty-four hours and on the campus of the school.  This closeness is somewhat relieved by having alternate chapters as flashbacks from the period before the crime.

I didn’t like this book quite as much as some of French’s previous ones, but it is well worth reading.  And I suspect it will linger in my memory as long as the others have.