Mud, Muck And Dead Things (A Campbell and Carter Mystery, #1)

by Ann Granger

The first Campbell and Carter mystery from one of the nation's best-loved crime writers. Lucas Burton hates the countryside. To him it's nothing but mud, muck and dead things. And he's right. When he turns up at a deserted farm in the middle of nowhere hoping to conduct a business deal he stumbles across the body of a girl. And that's just the start of his bad luck: Penny Gower from the local stables has spotted his silver Mercedes leaving the scene of the crime. Suddenly, for Lucas, things are looking very bleak indeed...Inspector Jess Campbell is on the case, but with few leads and a new superintendent, Ian Carter, breathing down her neck, she's beginning to feel the pressure. Then another dead body is found...

• ISBN10: 0750532394
• ISBN13: 9780750532396
• Publish Date: 1 May 2010 (first published 11 June 2009)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 8 June 2017
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Magna Large Print Books
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Mud, Muck and Dead Things is a re-release of the 1st book in the Campbell and Carter mystery series by Ann Granger. Originally published in 2009, this reformatted version was released 14th May 2018 by Canelo and is available in ebook format.

I read pretty much anything and everything, however, if forced at hypothetical gunpoint to choose only one genre, I'd have to say English crime, the more 'golden age' in feel, the better. This series is set in more or less modern rural England and even though it's a modern series, it has a light nostalgic feel.

Some of the characters in this series are a tie in to one of the author's other series and have a similar vibe. This book is well written with readable dialogue and the plot moves along at a good pace. There is a small element of magical realism/ghost stuff in the plot, but it's not vital to the story and doesn't detract. The book is very clean in language and sexual content, and apart from an occasional 'damn' or 'shit' won't offend any readers. There is some discussion -of- sex, but no sexual content per se.

All in all this is a good start to a well written and entertaining mystery series. It's nice that these are being made available again in electronic format at a very attractive price point ($2.50-$3 USD).

Four stars; readable, entertaining, well written, well plotted.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.