“Slim Chance,” by Peter Helton (Carroll & Graf, 270 pages, $25)
Painter, gourmet cook and sometime- private eye Chris Honeysett, who lives in the country outside Bath, is a gentle soul who resorts to sleuthing only when funds are low. Here he is looking for a tramp named Billy when he accidentally discovers a woman being starved to death by a madman the police have dubbed The Doctor (after the late Dr. Atkins).
When one of their closest friends is abducted by The Doctor out of revenge, Chris and his mates are forced to play his deadly game, following a series of clues and messages left in and around Bath in order to keep her alive. He’s joined by Tim, a reformed safe-cracker, and his fellow artist and tenant, Annis, with whom he and Tim are involved in an unconventional but satisfying love triangle. The city itself, with its labyrinthine underground chambers and passages, is a wonderfully utilized setting for this lively, well-plotted and slightly rowdy mystery.
“Darkness & Light,” by John Harvey (Harcourt, 368 pages, $25)
Best known for his 10-book series about jazz-loving Nottingham police detective Charlie Resnick, Harvey recently introduced a new sleuth, retired Detective Inspector Frank Elder, who has withdrawn from the world to a remote cottage in Cornwall after a painful divorce. He keeps getting drawn back into police work, however, this time by a friend of his ex-wife’s, whose older sister has disappeared without a trace. The friend suspects foul play, and Elder’s painstaking investigation confirms it, as well as a link to a 14-year-old unsolved murder.
Harvey is a skilled and meticulous writer, able to portray humanity’s dark side as well as the reined-in emotions of his decent but wounded protagonist, who is ridden with guilt for having put his beloved teenage daughter in danger in a previous case. The author should be much better known than he is to fans of the British urban police procedural.
“Evanly Bodies,” by Rhys Bowen (St. Martin’s Minotaur, 210 pages, $23.95)
In the close-knit village of Llanfair in northern Wales, there’s Evans-the-Milk, Evans-the-Meat and Evans-the-Post (for the milkman, butcher and postman who share the same surname). Most important, there’s Evans-the-Police, the clever young village constable who has been such a thorn in the side of his superiors that he has been reassigned to a new Major Crimes Unit, where he is forced to submit to the most disagreeable Detective – Inspector Bragg. A series of murders committed with the same unusual weapon has the unit stumped, as there is no apparent connection between the victims. Meanwhile, the rebellious teenage daughter of a Pakistani couple new to Llanfair has gone missing, and Evans has a personal interest in the case: His wife had befriended the young woman. This engaging series by an Edgar-nominated author can always be depended on for fair-play plotting, a likable protagonist and an authentic sense of place.
Tom and Enid Schantz write a monthly column on new mystery releases.
