A famed British mystery writer, with 23 books beneath her belt takes on the tight society of British mine workers and the psychological devastation accompanying the 1984 strike broken by Thatcher’s anti-union government. Depression, murder, financial desperation, scheming form a perfect backdrop, but the book dissolves into drek. Characters are flat, dialogue hopelessly simple, the plot grows tedious, and the mystery itself even I figured out. January 2010.