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The Coffin Trail (Lake District Mystery #1)

by Martin Edwards (Goodreads Author)

3.43 of 5 stars 3.43 · rating details · 204 ratings · 50 reviews

What is meant as a fresh start in the English Lakes District begins to reek of buried secrets....

Oxford historian and TV personality Daniel Kind and his new lover, Miranda, both want to escape to a new life. On impulse they buy Tarn Cottage in Brackdale, an idyllic valley in the Lake District that Daniel knew as a boy. He is still fascinated by a place so remote that the d

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Paperback, 286 pages

Published November 1st 2005 by Poisoned Pen Press (first published October 1st 2004)

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Apr 22, 2013 Durdles rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

I wanted to like this book having read some glowing reviews of The Lake District Mysteries. Perhaps it is a mistake to start with the first book of a series as there always has to be a lot of awkward scene-setting before the reader can relax and get on with enjoying the story. The whole of this volume seems to be taken up by an attempt to get the jigsaw of the characters into place in preparation for the next book. A good deal of back story is therefore woven into the plot which, otherwise, is f...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a decent English mystery set in the Lakes district. There's nothing to make it stand out too much from many other books of its type.

The few interesting bits were
-the main male character's father left his mother when he was 11 or 12 for another woman. His mother was so upset that she made it exceedingly difficult for his father to see his son and daughter. The father, not wanting to make his children's lives part of the war between him and his exwife, gave up. Now the father is dead and...more

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Mar 13, 2012 Seth Lynch rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

This book was selected for the Isle of Man Crime Book Club read. I always feel I read the book s for this more harshly than I would if it were a book I’d selected myself. I had been thinking of reading a book by Martin Edwards as my future boss mention him in my job interview. He’s also coming to the Island on the 25th of June – If I am I’ll have to go a long to the Crime Evening he has organised. (as it turned out that was the day I left the Island so I missed this)

As for the book… It didn’t qu...more This book was selected for the Isle of Man Crime Book Club read. I always feel I read the book s for this more harshly than I would if it were a book I’d selected myself. I had been thinking of reading a book by Martin Edwards as my future boss mention him in my job interview. He’s also coming to the Island on the 25th of June – If I am I’ll have to go a long to the Crime Evening he has organised. (as it turned out that was the day I left the Island so I missed this)

As for the book… It didn’t quite grab me. There were a lot of elements I really liked but there were too many inter-relationships. Nearly every character seems to have had an affair at some point and I felt this diluted the tension between the two main characters. There were some lines I really liked: ‘she had been pretty once, even her passport photograph couldn’t conceal that fact.’ And lines I didn’t: ‘…he couldn’t quite believe he’d taken things so far. Thank God their love for each other was so strong.’ There were a couple of times where a character notices that someone is sweating or red faced etc from a long distance away. As I read that it made me stop and think – can you really tell if beads of sweat are breaking out on someone’s forehead at a distance of twenty feet?

I made the mistake of reading the blurb on the front cover: 'A first-rate complex Thriller.' It is not a thriller in any shape or form. When I’d gotten about a hundred pages in I stopped expecting the thrills and started to read it for what it is – a modern day cozy. A slightly genre bending cozy but cozy non-the-less. It really felt like an episode of Midsomer Murders. Cozies aren’t really my thing but I like to read the odd one.

The way Edwards has set this up is nice. There are two main characters – an ex-Oxford don and a cop. The cop is working a cold case so and her ex-boss is the don’s late father. Her respect for his father means she (the cop is female) tolerates him more than she would otherwise. A cold case means there is no crime scene to be trampled over and gives scope for a non-cop to get involved. The location – a small village in The Lakes gives you an enclosed set of suspects. And Edwards plays by the rules of the Detection Club – no clues are withheld, no seemingly sane person turns out to be crazy (so not too much like Midsommer Murders) and he does not rely on co-incidences.

I pretty much worked out who had done it and why at about the half-way point. The line that gave it way for me came on page 190 of the 299 page novel. It wasn’t a line related to the crime and I don’t know why it triggered the reaction it did but as soon as read I knew what had happened. In fact I was only about 75% correct. It made reading the rest of the book different. It didn’t spoil it at all, I became interested in how Edwards would misdirect people. It was like watching a magician when you know the trick – you can still admire the skill and dexterity of the performance.

If you are into Whodunnits then this is right up your street.

Martin Edwards has a blog here: http://doyouwriteunderyourownname.blo... which I recommend. He is very knowledgeable about crime fiction and has good taste in films.(less)

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Dec 07, 2011 Lindsay (Little Reader Library) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A mystery set in the Lake District, featuring historian Daniel Kind, who leaves his position as a historian at Oxford and relocates with his new partner Miranda to Brackdale, where he once spent his holidays as a child and met a friend there named Barrie Gilpin. Daniel’s father Ben left Daniel and his sister and mother when Daniel was young, Ben going off to live with another woman in the Lake District. Daniel is curious now to find out more about who his late father really was, what sort of man...more A mystery set in the Lake District, featuring historian Daniel Kind, who leaves his position as a historian at Oxford and relocates with his new partner Miranda to Brackdale, where he once spent his holidays as a child and met a friend there named Barrie Gilpin. Daniel’s father Ben left Daniel and his sister and mother when Daniel was young, Ben going off to live with another woman in the Lake District. Daniel is curious now to find out more about who his late father really was, what sort of man he was, from his former colleagues in the police force, and from one in particular, DCI Hannah Scarlett, who admired and worked closely with Ben. Coincidentally, Hannah has been tasked with working on cold cases, leading the Cold Case Review Team, looking back into local crimes that were never solved, and one of these involves the murder of a young woman on a local landmark, the pagan Sacrifice Stone. This murder was assumed by most people at the time to have been carried out by Barrie Gilpin, who was subsequently found dead nearby on the very same night. But his guilt has never been proven, and it was a case that Ben Kind questioned. Now, thanks to a tip off in an anonymous phone call, Hannah is looking into it once again, and with Ben’s son Daniel on the scene and also believing in Barrie’s innocence, there is a determination to uncover the truth behind the secrets in this small close-knit community. However, naturally there are those for whom the past best lies well hidden, and who don’t welcome this digging around to unearth secrets long buried.

I was excited about reading this mystery, as it is the first in a series set in the Lake District, my favourite place in the UK, where I have spent many a happy week. It’s a good read and the characters are introduced slowly and built up nicely. In particular, the meetings between Hannah and Daniel, as Daniel can't resist getting involved with the investigation, and the story builds to a dramatic, tense conclusion. I believe there are currently five books in this series so far, so there are plenty more cases to read about involving Daniel and DCI Scarlett, and it will be interesting to see how Daniel's relationship with Miranda will fare, and whether they will both be satisfied with lakeland village life in the long-term. Looking forward to reading more of these thrillers soon, perhaps next time I am in the Lakes!(less)

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May 16, 2009 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Having recently returned from a trip to England that included an amazing three days in the Lakes, I fully understand why people fall in love with the area. When Daniel Kind and his partner Miranda impulsively buy a cottage, I started to look at this as a how-to-guide. Okay, not really but the area plays a huge part in the atmosphere of the story.

This is the second in the series that I've read. I'm actually going to re-read The Arsenic Labyrinth now that I've The Coffin Trail. The characters are...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Eric_W rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: police-procedural

Daniel Kind and his new girlfriend have decided to leave their jobs and move to the country, to a country house that Daniel's childhood friend had lived in. Barrie, an autistic child, had been accused of the murder of a young woman whose body had been found on an old, archaeological sacrifice stone. Barrie could never be brought to trial because he had died that same night of the murder by falling down a ravine. Or was it more sinister?

Some lovely descriptive passages. One of my favorites was hi...more Daniel Kind and his new girlfriend have decided to leave their jobs and move to the country, to a country house that Daniel's childhood friend had lived in. Barrie, an autistic child, had been accused of the murder of a young woman whose body had been found on an old, archaeological sacrifice stone. Barrie could never be brought to trial because he had died that same night of the murder by falling down a ravine. Or was it more sinister?

Some lovely descriptive passages. One of my favorites was his homage to bookstores: He found it without difficulty, one of half a dozen small businesses grouped around a large yard. Most of the units produced and sold crafts of one sort or another: wall hangings decorated with Lakeland themes, pottery and wooden gifts, hand-made greetings cards, and teddy bears with large, beseeching eyes. The bookshop occupied a section of a converted mill, the rear of which overlooked a weir. Rain was rattling on the gravel and although Daniel ran from his car, his sweatshirt was soaked by the time he was inside. The rich aroma of Kenyan coffee blended with the smell of old books and he recognised the andante movement of Hanson’s Romantic Symphony coming from discreet speakers near the entrance. The front part of the lower floor was devoted to fiction and the rear to the café, which spilled out on to an elevated area of decking from which on a fine day customers could sit out and watch the beck rushing by.

Some reviewers have downgraded the book because they didn't like the characters. I'm not quite sure what they might think of Jim Thompson's or the Ripley books. I don't have that perspective. I don't need to like the characters, only to find them interesting. Here, they are intriguing. Admittedly, some of the coincidences were a bit unlikely, e.g., that DCI Hannah Scarlett should have been Daniel Kind's father's sergeant.

BTW, one of the joys of reading on a Kindle is the instant dictionary feature. I had no idea what a "beck" and a "weir" were. Respectively, they are "a brook, especially a swiftly running stream with steep banks" and "a low dam that is built across a river to raise the water level, divert the water, or control its flow." Both parochial northern England definitions. Nice words.(less)

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Aug 01, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries, england

This book I enjoyed a bit more when I reread it but one has to be ready to wait until they are two thirds into the book or about page 175 for the murder investigation to begin. All the beginning is stage setting and getting to know the characters.

Daniel Kind has moved to the Lake District to get away from his hectic Oxford life and gets himself caught up in a ten year old murder. An old acquaintance was felt to be guilty since he was found dead near the site of a dead girls body. Daniel doesn't...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Deb rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Like this author so began this series...writing and characters are excellent. The coffin trail is a trail thru the Lake District of England that for centuries the people had to carry their dead to get to bury them. A present day murder happens; it gets solved. One of the things i wasn't happy with is that I did guess the murderer early on but it took to the last 10 pages to finally reveal it. The build-up was good, but i felt that the book rushed thru the explanation of the murder (s) and just e...more

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Nov 19, 2011 Julie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well I read this probably for all the wrong reasons! The Lake District is my little corner of the world and I was intrigued how a murder mystery was going to fit into a place with the lowest crime rate in the UK. The characters were pretty standard - a couple moving from high profile jobs to a rural idyll populated by misunderstood youngsters, farmers,obnoxious publicans with pretty bar staff etc etc.Couldnt believe there wasnt a vet lurking somewhere! However, Edwards padded out this rather fla...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Mary Gilligan-Nolan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am always on the look out for a new author and this one was yet another Goodreads recommendation. I am happy to say, this was a great read, just what I love in a book. The main story is about a historian, Daniel Kind, who goes to the Lake District with his partner Miranda and revisits a cottage he once knew in his childhood and finds it is for sale. They buy it on an impulse and decide to give up their City Lives and move to the Lakes. The Cottage was once owned by a boy Daniel befriended when...more

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Mar 07, 2012 Melissa Darnold rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: authors-a-g-series, genre-british-crime-mystery

03/07/12: Here's what I love about British crime mysteries: everything. I can't even remember the reason why I originally picked up The Coffin Trail. Oh! Yes, I do. I had seen The Serpent Pool, but it's the fourth in the series, so I had to start with the first one. Thus, began the start of The Lake District Mysteries. They're very much adult in their content (sex, language, theme), however it's not done in a pretentious way (see: it's not overdone). All of the content matter is subtle and seems...more

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Jun 15, 2010 Ursula rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 13, 2013 Deb Novack rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries

This being my 2nd Lake District Mystery I did not know what to expect, I was extremely impressed. The Coffin Trail was I believe the first book in the series and it was not repetitive it could be a stand alone book. This was a new storyline with a new murder when Daniel Kind met Hannah and learned about his father. Still being a part of a series you had no trouble following or feeling confused because you went out of order. I can not wait to get more of the Lake District Mystery books. Wonderful...more

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Sep 16, 2010 Charlotte rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Eh. This entire series is about two people who are so clearly in the wrong relationships from the very first page that reading about their dumb love-life choices for a couple hundred pages just becomes annoying. Also, would a series of horrible murders really take place in a tiny town in the Lake District in England? I couldn't suspend my disbelief long enough to get invested. Which was too bad, because I liked the main characters when they weren't being doormats for their shitty significant oth...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Vicky Thomasson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wanted to read this book as I absolutely love my holidays in the Lakes and I love a good crime read. To say I wasn't disappointed to begin with would be a lie. I found it quite slow to get into the actual story and found the character 'Miranda' to be highly irritating. Having said that, I did end up enjoying the second half and found Hannah and Daniel to be very likeable characters. I loved the twist at the end and will be picking up another book from this series when I go back to the Lakes in...more

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Apr 21, 2012 Andy Weston rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another call for half starts - this would have been three and a half.

This is the first book I have read by Edwards. I did so as I am living in the Lake District at the moment, and because the most famous of the Corpse Roads is about a mile from my house.

This is better than many such novels I have read but still lacks the power of the few that stand out (Nesbo, Reginald Hill - the other great Cumbrian crime writer).

I will read more Edwards though - so it must have had some impression!

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Aug 24, 2007 LJ rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, amateur_sleuth, england, contemporary_post_1945

THE COFFIN TRAIL (Amateur Sleuth-England-Cont) – Okay
Edwards, Martin – Standalone
Poisoned Pen Press, 2004- Hardcover
Daniel Kind and his lover, Miranda, buy a house in the Lake Country; a house once lived in by a boy accused of murder, who was found dead of an accident. Daniel's policeman father investigated the case, but Daniel never believed the boy was guilty. Now Daniel is asking questions and causes the police to take a new look at the murder. The locals are not happy, particularly when some...more

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Sep 15, 2012 Pippa222 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-thrillers

This is the first daniel Kind book, but I read it second. This also left me with a very bleak energy. The plot was good, but like lots of thrillers, the characters did not really convince me.

A personal afterthought... I have made a note that the problem with Martin Edwards's books is that he doesn't actually know what love is. He describes intensity of desire as love. This throws the reader, who may not agree with him. Otherwise he would be very good indeed.

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Jan 16, 2012 Penny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: modern-crime

I just discovered this author via Kate Ellis' website. I am discovering so many great British Crime writers!! This is the first of a series based in the Lake district with good atmospheric writing, plenty of tension and a sharp twist in the tale. The writing is tight and moves at a good pace with plenty of characters around the crime to add interest. This is not as gentle as the Armand Gamache books as it is more sinister but without gore.

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Jan 11, 2012 Val Sanford rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british-mystery, women-sleuths

Oxford Don throws away career to live in the Lakes District with very new girlfriend o ly to discover he's in the middle of Arnold murder case his estranged father never solved. Connecting now with his old partner, Ex-Don and cop find a decades old killer and more.

The plot twist but I had figured it out before the reveal. There's some sappy romance bits, but all in all a good first book to what I think will be an intriguing series.

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Jun 05, 2010 Sharonm rated it 4 of 5 stars

New series (2004) with a female detective (Hannah Scarlett), set in rural England. Atmospheric – a sort of cross between a police procedural and a cosy (with a historian as the one who figures out the murder). I enjoyed the location and the people more than the story line. It seemed a bit odd that the historian solves the mystery in the end, even though the location is crawling with police.

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Feb 10, 2013 David Seward rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was recommend this book by my Crime Fiction Appreciation group. It was a lighter read than I was expecting and I would have preferred more emphasis on the police detective Hannah, rather than the part-time sleuth Daniel. Maybe this changes in later books. Enjoyable with great descriptions of the English Lake District but not the best English detective story

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Jul 02, 2012 Lawrence rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

In the COFFIN TRAIL a well crafted mystery by Martin Edwards finds a Oxford professor resigning to go to the Lake country to clear a person he meet on vacation was accused of being a murderer of a young woman. The friend died in a fall and no search for the murderer was ever a priority. His search for the killer stirs up old emotions and new trouble. Worth the read for mystery fans.

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Oct 28, 2012 Monica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first book I've read by Martin Edwards and while the reviews were mixed, I really enjoyed this book. The first of more books set in the Lake District, it flowed nicely. Lots of descriptions of this area of the world, strong characters, interesting plot. I'll be adding this one to the many other series I'm reading right now.

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Jul 22, 2011 Mary Newcomb added it · review of another edition

Daniel Kind moves to the Lake District, buying the cottage of a childhood friend long suspected of a grisly murder. He can't resist looking into that case, especially as it was investigated by his late estranged father. Then things get more interesting, especially since there is a newly formed cold case squad in the area.

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Aug 11, 2012 Kay Robinson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle

I so enjoyed this, the setting was right, the occupations of the characters was right, the pace was right, the hint of legends was right and I could feel once again the memories of panting my way up those Lakeland fells. It all coming together in such an unsuspected twist that wrapped it all up in such a satisfying way..

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Feb 15, 2013 tinne rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story was pretty superficial and could not capture my attention the way other mysteries can. It being set in the Lake District, I reckoned the scenery would add to the narrative, but the author's descriptions of the Lakes added no extra layers to the story. I will not continue to read this series.

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Jan 30, 2011 Derk rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book right up to the rather silly ending. It's a mystery, but no particular way to figure out who did it. It was good enough that I then read the sequel, The Cipher Garden, which had the same goodness until the end.

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Jan 23, 2013 Matthew Ogborn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I knew Martin was an encyclopaedia of British crime fiction but I did not realise how much I would enjoy his books. As a Lake District regular, he captures the mood and atmosphere of village life very well indeed. The intriguing pairing of historian Daniel Kind and cold case copper Hannah Scarlett really did feel fresh, while the supporting cast were brought to life with vibrancy and wit. Second in the series ordered

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Oct 27, 2012 Kieran Little rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Really good book. Took me a while to read because of lots of things happening, but a very good story line, and easy to follow. I liked this book because it wasn't a direct link to a chrime investigation, it actually had some neat links in it, and sometimes they were a bit hard to follow, but you see how they all connect in the end.

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About Martin Edwards

Martin Edwards was educated in Northwich and at Balliol College, Oxford University, taking a first class honours degree in law. He trained as a solicitor in Leeds and moved to Liverpool on qualifying in 1980. He published his first legal article at the age of 25 and become a partner in the firm of Mace and Jones in 1984.

He is married to Helena with two children (Jonathan and Catherine) and lives i...more

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Books by Martin Edwards

The Arsenic Labyrinth: A Lake District Mystery

The Hanging Wood: A Lake District Mystery

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Quotes from The Coffin Trail

“Seldom happier than when I'm on my own, lost in a book.” — 3 people liked it

“One thing you learn in my job is that the truth is usually the last thing people want to emerge. Guilty or innocent, it doesn't matter. Everyone has something to hide.” — 2 people liked it

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The Coffin Trail (Lake District Mystery #1)

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