The Baby-Snatcher

I like Cleeves' books, but I'm not too keen on books that show harm to children😂! This one had lots of twists and turns that kept my interest.

I am not sure why Ms. Cleeves decided to stop writing the Inspector Ramsay series but she certainly has saved the best for last. This story has many subplots all of which are satisfactorily wound up. This is an improvement over the earlier books where certain characters were left hanging. The story is excellent and the characters compelling. I am very sorry to see the end of Inspector Ramsay.

I have been enthralled with Ann Cleeves' series of novels based on the scruffy female Detective Inspector, Vera and decided to give another of her novels a go. I was delighted with The Baby-Snatcher and its main character, Inspector Ramsey. In true Ann Cleeves style this book is captivating and fast moving and in similar fashion to the Vera series offers a twist in the tail ending. I would recommend this book to any reader looking for a few hours of captivating entertainment.

As the penultimate book of the original Inspector Ramsey series, Ann Cleeves wanted this book to have power, mystery, and that hidden something that only the best books have, that angst or even a passion that the story finally be TOLD!!Ms Cleeves delivers all of that in a fabulous whodunit set in the beautiful area from which she hails.

This is the third book in this Series that I have read, not in any order. I skipped ahead in the Series hoping for a better read and was not disappointed!

Love the building of suspense. Never knowing who exactly is the culprit. So many deranged characters. Love this author and reading all of her books.

Not as good as her Shetland or Vera books, but Ann Cleeves always delivers a good story.

I sometimes found the threads of the plots difficult to follow, but I will say I enjoyed the hike! Not being familiar with the geography, and it seeming so alien from where I live, I was confused trying to understand the local scenery. I did improve my vocab,though. I now know what a "Deen" is!

Ann Cleeves is one of my favourite crime authors though perhaps better known for her Shetland and Vera series.Alas, this is #6 of the Inspector Ramsay tales and the last in the series. I have enjoyed every episode and couldn't put my Kindle down.Marilyn Howe is 15yo and reports her Mum is missing. To everyone's relief she turns up safe and well only to disappear again 6 months later. This time matters are not so easily resolved.If you liked previous books from Ann Cleeves, you'll enjoy this one too 👌

The last in this series of early works by the author of the Vera and Shetland books. Inspector Ramsay has a difficult case to solve, a collection of strange characters in a small community are all possible suspects.This is a cleverly plotted, intriguing murder-mystery with a surprise revelation in the final pages, a must for fans of Ann Cleeves, a pity this novella length work is so grossly overpriced.

I can quite see why this is the last book. It does not engage me. There are no likeable characters and no real depth. Yes there is a complicated twisting plot but who really cares about who did what to whom? Inspector Ramsay is as much a mystery now as at the start of the first book.

Although this last in the series detective story is set in the mid 1990's and there are no mobile phones, computers or the like, it is still an outstanding read. Ann Cleeves is a adept creator of plots and this is no exception. It is based in a small community in Northumberland, which is described beautifully, there are enough characters to be interesting but not so complicated that the reader loses track of who is who. The reader can make plenty of guesses on the way, but Ann often surprises with the end result. Thoroughly absorbing and a real page turner.I wish the remaining three Inspector Ramsay books were available on Amazon! Read the other two available books as well, preferably before this one; just as good - "The Healers" and "Dorothea Cassidy"

Basically an inflated short story. The author seems to be concentrating more on the somewhat contrived web of relationships rather than tracking down the murderer whose identity is pretty obvious from the outset. She has had to resort to that hackneyed device, so popular among crime writers struggling to resolve a seemingly insoluble conundrum, of introducing a deus ex machina, or in this case, the barely credible link with a minor, otherwise superfluous character, in order to unmask the culprit. Only the easy-to-read, fluent style goes some way to compensate for a thin plot.