The Skeleton Road is a McDermid novel that fair zips along without ever really feeling like it has stakes. This is a combination of the murder being a cold case and the nested book within the novel never really engaging with the reader. Fortunately, those segments are only a few pages at a time and you're able to get back to the modern day in no time.

Karen Pirie is a strong character to hang a novel on, and McDermid has yet to ruin her like she had Tony Hill and Carol Jordan - whom she has since rehabilitated - and I enjoyed reading this novel without ever truly caring. It's a solid three, even if you're likely to have pinned the tail on the murderer well ahead of the characters.