This was a recent Christmas gift. My wife thought I would bask in a Devon setting having emigrated thence over 50 years ago. I was familiar with Cleeve's work through the truly atmospheric 'Shetland' series. Her Devon debut is a stumble; nothing evokes the more metropolitan …more milieux of the county (I'm a Plymothian at heart; North Devon always seemed only slightly more civilized than Cornwall). The book is bereft of Devon dialect other than "maid" a few times. I wasn't expecting 'Poldark lite' but Devonians DO still say "Ow be ee?" "Wareby gwain" and so on, and archaic talk still flavors pubs, which are notably absent from this book. I was raised buying and selling fish, and Cleeves is quite oblivious to the nuances of coastal Devon.
Politeness reigns as it certainly doesn't in Devon; no-one says "well I'm buggered" or "bugger me". When I began at Cambridge my fellow students were appalled at my regionalisms. Devonians did and do resent retiree newcomers with money and attitude, as well as the tourists who support the County economy. That facet is mostly missing as well. Bottom line? If you choose to set a series in a really distinctive English county, get it right. I'm about to embark on the series second book; maybe Ms. Cleeves is learning to embrace Devon culture. I hope so. (less)