In the Spider's House

I bought this after reading an article in the Guardian about female mystery writers. Do not make the same mistake. It is just awful: the characters are wooden.. and ultimately, not sympathetic, the plot is thin, and I figured out the ending entirely too early. I am an ex-smoker so I don't particularly mind smoking references, but by the time I finished this I wanted to bean the lead character on the head with a duty free box of Silk Cut. (Do they still make Silk Cut? Marlboro Lights, then.) I felt sorry for the villain . mildly so, since I had no real sense of anyone truly inhabiting a world. The plot sounds promising .. that is what enticed me. It might have worked as a short story.