From Publishers Weekly
The Potato Man, a serial rapist who eluded then-rookie cop AlanMarkby 20 years earlier, resurfaces in Ann Granger's A Restless Evil:A Mitchell and Markby Mystery, the 14th installment in this inventiveseries. Once again, as Markby and lover Meredith Mitchell investigatesome human bones uncovered in Stovey Woods, the author demonstratesher skill at updating the traditional English village murder mystery.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
About 20 years ago, the woods at Lower Story were frequented by a still uncaught serial rapist. Now, shortly after a hiker discovers skeletal remains in the woods, a female churchwarden meets her untimely end in the local church: could the two events be connected? Supt. Alan Markby (Shades of Murder) thinks so, especially since he failed to find a perpetrator in the earlier case. With assistance from lover Meredith, he delves into the rumors and facts surrounding both cases, hoping for a break. This is a rock-solid British village procedural, complete with detailed setting, slightly degenerate denizens, and ongoing personal conflicts. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
The very British Chief Inspector Alan Markby and his lover, Meredith Mitchell, are still house hunting in the latest installment of the series. When they check out a property in the decrepit village of Lower Stovey, Meredith doesn't realize that they are returning to the scene of the first crime Alan ever investigated--a serial rape case that was never solved. During their visit, human bones are found in the rapist's old hunting ground, Stovey Woods, and the pair is immediately drawn back into the 20-year-old case. When a woman is murdered in the village church a few days later, the investigation takes on a new urgency and uncovers all sorts of long-buried information--as Markby points out, "investigation into big crimes has a way of turning up a host of small sins." An excellent cozy with a full complement of eccentric characters, this lives up to the standard set by Granger's previous books. Carrie Bissey
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"The officer on duty at Bamford police station is skeptical when he takes a call from Guy Morgan. Morgan claims to have stumbled upon human bones in Stovey Woods, in the heart of the Cotswolds, but surely animal bones are more likely? Morgan, though, is a doctor as well as a hiker, and he knows exactly what he's found." "It sends a shiver down Detective Alan Markby's spine when he hears the news. Twenty-two years ago, as a fresh-faced young inspector, he encountered a rare failure: his hunt for a brutal serial rapist preying on local women in Stovey Woods came up empty. After the third rape, the attacker disappeared, never to be heard of again." Now, with a new investigation prompted by Morgan's grisly discovery, the trial could be warm once more. But almost at once, Markby is confronted with another body and a thoroughly up-to-date murder. Markby's lover, Meredith Mitchell, can't help but wonder: Could the two be connected? But as both are about to find out, it seems that some of the village residents would be just as happy to let sleeping dogs lie and to let secrets - both old and new - stay hidden.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The Potato Man, a serial rapist who eluded then-rookie cop Alan Markby 20 years earlier, resurfaces in Ann Granger's A Restless Evil: A Mitchell and Markby Mystery, the 14th installment in this inventive series. Once again, as Markby and lover Meredith Mitchell investigate some human bones uncovered in Stovey Woods, the author demonstrates her skill at updating the traditional English village murder mystery.

Library Journal