Police Procedural Archives - Page 2 of 16

Book review: The Secret Room by Jane Casey

May 1, 20252 min read

The Secret Room by Jane Casey is the latest in the Maeve Kerrigan series and though I’m an intermittent reader of the series I loved the previous book (A Stranger in the Family) which left us hanging. Here, we have one case involving the locked-room death of the young attractive wife of a wealthy man, murdered while at her weekly tryst with her lover; and another featuring Josh Derwent (Maeve’s boss and erstwhile will-they / won’t-they love interest) coming under suspicion after his girlfriend is beaten.

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Book review: Whole Life Sentence by Lynda LaPlante

April 12, 20252 min read

I stumbled across Whole Life Sentence by Lynda LaPlante on my iPad while looking through books that were free as part of my Prime TV subscription. I completely missed its release last year but have read and enjoyed the series a lot. I picked that book nine, A Taste of Blood was nearing the point that (Young) Jane Tennison (reintroduced as a naïve, young—and rare—WPC!) becomes the crustier version we meet in Prime Suspect in 1991, before seeing a tweet by the author confirming book ten would be the last.

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Book review: Blood Pact by Fiona McIntosh

January 7, 20252 min read

Blood Pact by Fiona McIntosh is the sixth in the series featuring DCI Jack Hawksworth. I’ve mentioned in the past that Aussie author McIntosh sets this in the UK with Jack working for New Scotland Yard but there’s always an Australian connection or two. This is another outstanding addition to the series and McIntosh is doing a great job, mixing up the cases on offer and balancing regular players (like Jack, his boss Carol and work partner Kate) with newcomers, often bringing new skills into the mix.

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Book review: Bonded in Death by JD Robb

December 11, 20242 min read

Bonded in Death by JD Robb opens with a prologue set in 2026 as the Urban Wars neared their conclusion… which started a few years earlier (ie about now in JD Robb / Nora Roberts’s world so let’s hope she’s not psychic). We don’t spend much time in the past however before moving to the present (40 years later) in Robb’s futuristic series. And for those who’ve been following the series for a long time, it’s pretty easy to guess that this book will hit close-to-home for NYPD cop Eve Dallas and her mega-wealthy husband Roarke… given their majordomo-cum-father-figure-to-Roarke (Summerset) often talks about his work with the Resistance during the Urban Wars.

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Book review: Murder for Busy People by Tony Parsons

December 7, 20242 min read

Murder for Busy People by Tony Parsons is the seventh in the series featuring detective and single dad, Max Wolfe. I assumed I’d missed more recent ones but discovered I’d read the sixth when it was released in 2019… so it’s been a while between books in this series (of which I’ve only read #1, #3, #6 and now #7). Wolfe’s daughter Scout seems to be ageing in real-time. She was eight in Taken and is now 12, almost 13, nevertheless I was quite surprised at the freedom she’s offered here given Wolfe certainly knows that London is not a particularly safe place.

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Book review: Endgame by Sarah Barrie

October 27, 20243 min read

Endgame by Sarah Barrie is the fourth in the series featuring Lexi Winter – victim turned prostitute / hacker / vigilante turned cop. I really love this series and Barrie has offered up consistently good books with strong vibrant characters and action-packed investigations. It’s interesting she’s not garnered more accolades for her work (and I enjoyed her earlier novels as well). This would be great on the screen and I’d love to see it optioned as it’s got everything one could possibly want in a TV series!

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Book review: Out in Nowhere by Fleur McDonald

October 26, 20242 min read

Out in Nowhere by Fleur McDonald is the latest in the loosely linked series featuring Detective Dave Burrows. We met Constable Mia Worth in the previous book in this contemporary series (McDonald has also penned a series featuring a younger Dave Burrows) and she’s front and centre here as well. And her doggedness and sense of unease pays off ensuring a killer doesn’t get away with murders written-off as accidents.

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Book review: The Waiting by Michael Connelly

October 16, 20243 min read

The Waiting by Michael Connelly offers readers multiple bangs for their buck. Or rather, several mysteries in one book. Renee Ballard and her open-unsolved crimes team are pursuing several old crimes and in the present Renee is hand-delivered an unwanted case of her own when her gun and badge are stolen. We’re also offered two Bosches for the price of one as Harry’s daughter Maddie – a cop herself – brings an old unsolved crime to Renee’s team.

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