Promising first volume in a long-running series, with an attractive lead detective, and cast of intriguing back-up characters.
Suffers a bit from "first-in-a-series-itis": perhaps working a little too hard to make Resnick interesting, different and quirky (His family were Polish immigrants! He likes jazz! He loves cats!!! What the heck is it with quirky detectives and jazz? I would pay good money to read about a detective who hates jazz ....)
Also, perhaps too many back-up characters and their quirks, personal problems, and personalty flaws to keep track of (in addition to all the victims, their family, the red herrings, etc etc)
A true police procedural: in fact my husband and I were wondering if this might be one of the very earliest series that looked at the work of a CID team, rather than a brilliant misfit or a lone wolf (assisted by a much-put-upon junior). The team, and its dynamics, is as much a character as the quirky lead ...
As a true police procedural, I don't think it's a spoiler to say that this isn't a "Murder on the Orient Express" scenario, with the murderer narrowed down from the ranks of a small group of suspects -- the murderer could be just about anyone in this Midlands town, and the "pleasure" comes from seeing how the CID narrows it down, through slog, inspiration, luck. And so, the ending is, yes, a little odd: Harvey manufactures some drama and suspense, which doesn't entirely convince.
But it's very well-written, very readable. Looking forward to following up on the series ...
Suffers a bit from "first-in-a-series-itis": perhaps working a little too hard to make Resnick interesting, different and quirky (His family were Polish immigrants! He likes jazz! He loves cats!!! What the heck is it with quirky detectives and jazz? I would pay good money to read about a detective who hates jazz ....)
Also, perhaps too many back-up characters and their quirks, personal problems, and personalty flaws to keep track of (in addition to all the victims, their family, the red herrings, etc etc)
A true police procedural: in fact my husband and I were wondering if this might be one of the very earliest series that looked at the work of a CID team, rather than a brilliant misfit or a lone wolf (assisted by a much-put-upon junior). The team, and its dynamics, is as much a character as the quirky lead ...
As a true police procedural, I don't think it's a spoiler to say that this isn't a "Murder on the Orient Express" scenario, with the murderer narrowed down from the ranks of a small group of suspects -- the murderer could be just about anyone in this Midlands town, and the "pleasure" comes from seeing how the CID narrows it down, through slog, inspiration, luck. And so, the ending is, yes, a little odd: Harvey manufactures some drama and suspense, which doesn't entirely convince.
But it's very well-written, very readable. Looking forward to following up on the series ...
