Title: Lake of Sorrows
Author: Erin Hart
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copyright: 2004
ISBN: 0743247965
Pages: 329
Keywords: mystery
Reading period: 29 January-3rd February, 2007

This is the second mystery featuring Nora Gavin, an American forensic pathologist living in Ireland. The body of a ritually murdered Iron Age man is found preserved in a bog, and Gavin is called in to examine the body. Shortly thereafter, another similarly murdered body is found in the bog, but this one is wearing a wristwatch.

Hart writes lean, clear prose, with believable characters, and a not-completely improbable plot. Her Irish characters sound and act like Irish people, rather than refugees from a Lucky Charms outtake.

My main complaint with this book and its predecessor, Haunted Ground, is that all of the characters are damaged, limping through life, struggling with depression or anger. There's something wrong with a cheerful mystery, but these are a bit grim. This book ends on a positive note, however.