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Despite what the thousands of books and movies about serial killers have taught us, murder is usually incredibly banal and Kate Atkinson has taken that and used it to her advantage - there are three different cold case deaths covered here (hence the title) and a number of shifts in time between present day and the times surrounding the killings. The people involved are mostly normal - unhappy, perhaps, but the same sort of unhappiness that millions of us go through each day. The crimes are all solved, ultimately. However, this book is really about the characters and Atkinson does an incredible job following a number of people (including the titular cop-turned-private-detective) and making their regular lives wonderfully compelling.

So, if you are looking for clever notes left on dead bodies killed in ways that mimic characteristics of each of the seven dwarves, this isn't for you. If you enjoy mysteries and love good writing, definitely give this a try. I'm so glad that I already own the next in the series.