And the ending is well concealed - surprising even the erstwhile Inspector Leonard. But then I have seen this book reviewed with absolutely no mention of it. So maybe it's just me. Sterner Stuff, I should say right away, is an immaculately plotted police procedural that will keep most readers guessing right into the slightly disappointing last chapter. Squad methodically go about the business of investigating the murder of a popular local Catholic priest in his sacristy just before evening mass.
Further investigation reveals that a nurse was seen running from the church.
A little later she is found dead. There's never any doubt that Tansey and his team will sort it out and, of course, I50-odd convoluted pages later, they do. But that's it. The prose is straightforward but polite and unambiguous. No unseemly emotions are conveyed.