Often in series books it doesn't really matter if the books are read in order. Although Killing Time can certainly be enjoyed independently, there is an on-going story involving the major characters which begins with Orchestrated Death , the first book of the series. It would be well worth the trouble to track down the earlier volumes and read them in order. A word of caution is in order, however. There are both British and American editions of each book and in some cases, the title of the British edition for the same story is different than the American.
Descriptive passages abound in Killing Time .
It's so hard to tell without any sensory input, like taste or texture.