This is #4 in the Blake Hartley series by John Waddington-Feather; my review for #3 is here.
The story is a little different this time, because Hartley's boss is recovering with a broken leg, and his temporary replacement has a very different approach to police work. Also, a detective from the US joins forces with Hartley and Khan, and the two Yorkshire officers and their wives even get to visit their American friend and his wife.
However, most of the book takes place in the fictitious Yorkshire town of Keighworth, with some bits in Harrogate and in the dales, which is of course why I am reading this series in the first place.
A dead body is found in the graveyard of the church where Hartley works as a Reverend when he is not policing. Nothing unusual about a dead body in the graveyard, one should think. But this time, it is an internationally searched for hitman who was killed very expertly and very recently, and his body deliberately placed on the Redfearn family tomb, a well known and influential family.
What have the Redfearns got to do with a hitman from Pakistan? An international drugs ring, honour killings, money laundering and stolen church furniture turning up in an antiques store in Phoenix, Arizona - and to top it off, there is a bent copper in Keighworth's force who is in league with the drug pushers. Of course, Hartley and Khan solve the case and uncover their colleague`s wrongdoing, and there is a dramatic showdown towards the end, set against the backdrop of the Grand Canyon.
Somehow, I found the main characters just a little bit paler than in the previous two books I have read of this series, but maybe it was simply a case of me not fully concentrating while I was reading. Most of my kindle reading happens while I am waiting at train stations or actually on the train, and it has been very, very busy recently, what with a lot of holiday makers (many of them obviously not familiar with public transport) and frequent loudspeaker announcements distracting me.
I can't find those books at my library so I don't think they are available over here.
ReplyDeleteRight now I have been re-reading a private investigator series by Sue Grafton - the alphabet series where the titles are always the next letter in the alphabet (A is for Alibi was the first). I read them years ago and enjoyed them but can't remember them so I can start again! :)
Sue Grafton and the alphabet series sounds familiar; I have just checked my blog and found that I have apparently never read any of her books, but I am sure I have read about them - maybe on Monica's blog or elsewhere.
DeleteThis sounds like an interesting series to me. I need to check it out.
ReplyDeleteIt makes for good reading, especially if you have a Yorkshire connection or interest. Not brilliant writing (and as I keep saying, quite a bit of stereotyping), but good reading.
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