Review: A Cozy Mystery With A Friendly Detective
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 14, 2014
I liked Ms Evans tortured detective, DI Rafferty from the first page. He wasn’t your usual ambition, driven policeman trying to make a name for himself. Rafferty is a bit jaded and not too motivated about finding the attackers of three men who collect for a local loan shark, until his boss hauls him over the coals. His partner, DS Dafyd Llewellyn also has to prove he is up the job – as if his name wasn’t enough for any man to cope with!The first surprising thing is when one of the so-called muggings turns into murder, then the second that his boss says his golfing buddy is the loan shark so Rafferty is warned not to drag his feet in the investigation. Hmm interesting.Then there is Abra, Rafferty’s fiancé who is determined to have a celebrity wedding on a copper’s salary – and after a long shift at the cop shop, expects him to collect the takeaway - not a partnership destined to last.The plot is laid out in an easy to read style and beautifully English without being over the top with the idioms. It gathers momentum as the witnesses are rounded up and give their side of the story, or at least their versions of it. Then amongst the lies, evasions and ‘no comments’ one of them says they saw someone. Clues begin to emerge hazily from the confusion of a low-rent community terrorised by loan sharks, in fact so subtly, I had to concentrate so as not to miss them.The characterisation, humour and dialogue is thoroughly enjoyable with plenty of blind alleys which keep the reader guessing. Ms Evans had a good grasp of police procedures without getting too embroiled in the nitty gritty.Without spoiling the book for others, I have to say I was biting my nails when the well-meaning Llewellyn has a ‘helpful’ chat with his wife about the deluded Abra and it gets passed on – whoops.The character growth of DI Rafferty is well handled, in that he changes from a lackadaisical box ticker to a man torn between his need to get the job done and his sympathy for people driven to use the services of low-life loan sharks who prey on them.As a traditional British mystery which doesn’t need to shock, and yet still keeps the reader engaged, this is a winner.