I had high hopes for this, but maybe too high. Alice Teale Is Missing feels like what Lewis and Midsomer Murders would be like if the shows had a budget cut.

The first half of the book is dominated by a great deal of information extraction by talking, and then the story races to the end. A pity, really, since the plot is very solid. If DC Beth Winter collected information through her lengthy interrogations, then DS Lucas Black was the legs and wheels. Whenever the author wanted the reader to discover new evidence or to go to places beyond conducting villager interrogations, he does it through scenes where DS Black are in. Right where the story picks up pace is when the author decides to grace the pages with more of DS Black's participation.

A promising plot and Linskey has a great deal of a talent for building the atmosphere of a setting, but Alice Teale Is Missing was sabotaged by poor character development, uneven pacing, and lazy writing. I'll likely pick up the next book if this becomes a series to see if the writing develops, but I won't be rushing to the store.