Leave Only Footprints

This is a good book to read if you want strong characterisation but a relatively simple mystery. There is some benefit to the simplicity as it means you can dip in and out of the book rather than focus in a single reading. I really liked the setting and the author did a good job in painting the picture.

The evocation of small-town England in 1972 is perfectly done: the right cars, tunes on the radio, wage freezes, strikes and a way of life long since vanished. Drugs are being sold in the local pub and the cinema can only survive by doing bingo three times a week. The author drops his lead character, a rookie newspaper reporter, Paul Sears, into this time and place and uses his local knowledge to help solve the crimes committed. There's plenty of empathy and all the characters come across as real people. This is a book for people who want a good story and care about the way in which it is told.