Good Bait
Since wrapping up his acclaimed Charlie Resnick series, Harvey has introduced several new coppers—some patrolling Resnick’s Nottingham turf; others in London and Cornwall—and the newbies have all displayed the complexity, vulnerability, and multifaceted appeal that fans have come to expect from a Harvey creation. That is especially true here, in a two-pronged crime tale featuring DCI Karen Shields (a bit player in earlier Harvey novels), of the London Homicide & Serious Crimes Unit, and soon-to-retire DI Trevor Cordon, from Cornwall. Shields is investigating the apparently drug-connected murder of a Moldovan teen, while Cordon is tracking a disappeared young woman with whom he has a past. Naturally, the two cases are related, and while Harvey expertly constructs the connective tissue, we find ourselves much more involved in Shields’ story; both plots are fully fleshed and engaging, but Shields steals the show, emerging as a starworthy creation. Harvey has always done very well with supporting female characters (Lynn Kellogg in the Resnick novels), but now he has a series lead on his hands crying out for more screen time. --Bill Ott--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.