This book set in Derbyshire started well.
DI Meg Dalton and her team investigate the strange murder of a man found poisoned in a cave.
They have a few significant leads.
There is also possible religion and right to die issues involved as well as the usual murdered for Money.
Dalton has her own family issues with her mum looking after the old Granny.
Another death occurs sister of the original man.
Lots of back and forth running about, a teenage girl called Rosie thinks she may have Huntingtons disease as there is a family link she is going to kill herself in another cave. Dalton and her sidekick Jai arrive and rescue her.
They then manage to solve the murder and rescue another woman.
Silly book. Not for me. ( )

This started out well: Meg is making a place for herself as a DI in a new force and forges a good working relationship with Jai, one of her sergeants. The method by which the first victim got lured to his death was extremely convoluted and made frequent references to Greek mythology, but I was going along with it. After that however, it became one of those novels where the heroine's tragic backstory turns out to be directly relevant to the investigation, and where she is forever having accidents/being attacked/dislocating limbs rescuing people, but merely takes couple of aspirins and bounces back. Finally it descended into something of an 'issue' novel. ( )

Good story. The lead detctive is a bit accident prone although she comes through in the end. It does raise questions about assisted suicide. The author does not ram her views down your throat, but she does raise questions about how much suffering a human being can withstand. Will read more by this author. ( )

You know it’s a good book when you giggle out loud three times during the first chapter.

You know it’s a fabulous book when it just gets more and more interesting as you get to the heart of the plot.

— What’s it about? —

A lawyer is found dead in a cave in the Peak District, apparently having eaten a poisoned cake.

New DI Meg Dalton is convinced this is murder, but local gossip about a curse seems almost validated by the century old image of the grim reaper carved into the wall above the victim - alongside his initials.

Can Meg uncover the truth about the curse before more people die?

— What’s it like? —

Engaging, intriguing and occasionally philosophical.

A potent blend of police procedural and daft detective venturing out on a limb.

Meg Dalton is simultaneously smart and stupid, able to recognise mathematical truths and when suspects are withholding information or grinding an axe, but also ready to justify venturing alone into dark underpasses to talk to reluctant witnesses with known mental health issues. (Unsurprisingly, this doesn’t go quite to plan.)

Her concerns and neuroses make her eminently likeable, and though I’m sure she must spend the entire second half of the book struggling with a concussion from her frequent violent encounters, her insights into the case continue to place her in the thick of the plot. Expect her to keep going til the bitter end, despite clearly having earned a space in A&E and a weekend’s R&R.

I thoroughly enjoyed the banter between Meg and Jai, her preferred DS (Craig, her other DS is a mostly unredeemable sexist pig), though I would prefer it if he and Meg weren’t obviously being established as potential romantic partners. Can men and women ever support each other without the potential for something physical / romantic to happen? Maybe not in ‘The Devil’s Dice’, otherwise Jai would surely tell Meg to sod off when she suggests what is essentially a suicide mission.

— Deadly themes —

Speaking of suicide, it seems fair to warn readers that this book explores the concept of assisted suicide. It does so effectively and in ways that tie the whole plot together beautifully, though I think Watkins’ final feelings on the matter can be determined by considering the nature of the individuals she has representing the life-at-any-cost brigade.

— Enjoyable excerpts —

‘I needed to rethink my fitness regime, which mainly consisted of reading articles in New Scientist about the benefits of exercise.’

‘Of course it was terrible that a man was dead, but if he’d had to die, at least he’d done it in an intriguing way, and when I happened to be nearby.’

‘And he was dead when he was found?’
‘That’s right. Although I’ve seen deader.’
‘Can you be just a little bit dead?’
Ben folded his arms. ‘If there are no maggots, you’re not that dead.’

— Final thoughts —

I thoroughly enjoyed this first outing for DI Meg Dalton and look forward to reading Roz Watkins’ next book in this series, ‘Dead Man’s Daughter’. ( )

Reading this book in England (although not in the Peak District but north of there) gave me a real feel for the descriptions in the book. This is a debut work by this writer and I have a few quibbles but overall it was well written.

Meg Dalton is a Detective Inspector in the Peak District. She was born in this area but moved away for college (Cambridge!) and then worked elsewhere. Her mother and gran still live here and are getting on in age so Meg thought she would take a DI position when it came available. She is called out to a suspicious death of a patent attorney in a cave. The man ate a poisoned cake and it is not known if he deliberately ate it himself or was murdered. To add further mystery the cave is decorated with a carving of the Grim Reaper which has the dead man's initials under it. While Meg has doubts about it being a suicide others such as his partners seem convinced he did kill himself. Meg continues to poke into the dead man's life and it appears someone doesn't appreciate that because she is followed one rainy night and tumbles down some stairs getting badly bruised. That isn't the only altercation Meg has during the course of the book and that is one of my quibbles. If she gets this much physical damage on every case I can't see her surviving for long. And it seems like she lacks confidence in herself so I'm not sure she can inspire confidence in others. Nevertheless after following several false leads she does manage to confront the killer (because of course the attorney was murdered or there wouldn't be much of a book) and she appears to have a better view of herself by the end of the book.

I hope to be able to read more from this author who certainly has an interesting area as the setting for her book. ( )