One of the things I really worry to much about when it comes to books is their height. I want my series to fit together and have on occasions taken a ruler into the bookstore to make sure I bought the right one. It completely beats me why there are so many different heights available or why this sometimes differs between UK and US editions. Usually, I'm most pleased by the standard 197mm edition, but these are for some reason often not brought onto the market for a full six to nine months after publication (sometimes even the MMP are released before!). I'm sorry for the rambling - what I wanted to say was that if you've been waiting for such a long time after publication, when the book finally arrives, it doesn't always scream as loudly as it did in the beginning, and in the case of The Hanging Tree, so many great book were passing by, I -shamefully- admit to forgetting about it until I saw the newest book in the series, Lies Sleeping, in stores recently. On the other hand, the series looks superbly in my book case.
The sixth novel in the Peter Grant series brings back a lot of old and new characters, ultimately centering once more on Peter and his, at this time grown into, arch nemesis. Since it was a while since I read the fifth book I was worried I would not get into the story easily, but I needn't worry. It was not hard to recognize why I like these books so much. The story is okay, but it is Peter's way of describing police procedural, diplomacy (with the Rivers) and life in general (which I can only describe as British) that really makes this series so wonderful. I mean, he uses the phrase 'hoi polloi'. Period.
Just an interesting side note to end this review with: The paperback edition of Lies Sleeping is currently planned for May 24th, and Book Depository describes the height as 198mm *inner scream*.
4
1
