New British Police Procedurals

If you're fond of Ian Rankin and his John Rebus novels, there's a bucket-load of new British police procedurals out there. Some of the authors are well-known, but I've tried to focus on ones the crowds may have missed.

Garden of Lamentations by Deborah Crombie is the latest in the Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid mysteries, picking up the loose ends of the previous novel (To Dwell in Darkness) and forging ahead with new cases. Gemma investigates the murder of a nanny of an acquaintance and husband Duncan is digging into some truly nasty office politics. The characterizations are what carry this series of two people as in love with each other as with their jobs.

Ed James' debut novel of a new series, The Hope That Kills, follows DI Simon Fenchurch, a man with demons. In this book, Fenchurch is investigating the murders of prostitutes whom nobody knows and seem to be completely off the grid. He also has a complicated home life: his wife left him because of his obsession with the disappearance of their daughter ten years ago. While the ending may be a little over the top, this is a definite page-turner and promising beginning to a new series.

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles delivers what even for her is a better-than-usual entry in her long-running Bill Slider series: Old Bones. Slider is assigned a cold case involving the skeleton of a teenager in a new garden, which becomes connected to a very hot case involving sex-and-drug parties and powerful men. Witty and fast-paced, this is definitely a treat for fans and newcomers alike.

Rob McCarthy has a different spin on the procedural in his debut novel, The Hollow Men. Harry Kent divides his time between a London university hospital and the Medical Examiner's office. He gets called in by the police to help defuse a hostage situation that is more than it seems. Turns out, the teenage hostage-taker has angered some very powerful people and Kent makes it his mission to see justice done. Featuring a likeable, flawed character and plenty of medical detail, this looks good for future additions.

Tony Parsons contemplates the moral repercussions of vigilante justice in The Hanging Club. DC Max Wolfe is on the trail of a group that films and posts its executions of lightly-punished criminals against children. With a young daughter of his own and a personal life spiraling out of his control, Wolfe struggles to maintain that public justice applies to everyone. Subtle and emotionally powerful, this is a welcome addition to the series including The Murder Man and The Slaughter Man.

I See You by Clare Mackintosh makes serious hay out of the premise that our daily routines make us highly vulnerable to all kinds of skullduggery. Zoe reads the paper every day, and by chance finds a blurry photo of herself in an ad for a dating site. It soon becomes apparent that there's a new picture with the ad every day and the women in the ads are being harassed and worse. Kelly Swift, a British Transit Authority officer whose promising career was derailed years ago, agrees to investigate. The solid practicality that Zoe displays contrasts nicely with Swift's tenuous grasp of her own personal and professional life.  The nonstop suspense will appeal to fans of Tana French and Ruth Rendell.