Deadlight by
Graham Hurley
hbk out July 03
Published by Orion
at £9.99
This is another of Graham Hurley's police procedural novels based in
Portsmouth, which always reveal a deep knowledge of the way in which
today's CID operates. The lead character is Detective-Inspector Joe Faraday,
a widower with an adult son who is totally deaf, but otherwise extremely
able. He is now a photographer of considerable expertise and the 'home-
side' of the detective's life is largely taken up with his son and his bird-
watching.
In this story, Sean Coughlin, a prison officer, is found murdered in his flat
and is soon discovered to be an obnoxious brute with no lack of candidates
for his slayer, especially one recently-released prisoner. However, Coughlin
was formerly in the Navy and links appear between him and some of the
crew of a vessel that was sunk in the Falklands war. The story reveals an
insight into the working of the naval base as well as Portsmouth Major
Incident Team and the writing carries a conviction that is the hallmark of
Hurley's books. There are several sub-plots, such as the machinations of a
wily older Detective Constable who is a loose cannon, devoted to dodging
set procedures until he comes unstuck in a big way. There is also another
young detective who is cast as the bad cop, who preys upon one of the
female members of the team.
The writing is excellent and the book is a real page-turner. If any criticism is
possible, it is that the eventual solution leans a little towards a cheat in that
the actual culprit has not really been kept in the frame throughout most of
the book; also, the two sub-plots are rather left hanging without proper
closure.
Still, it is a worthy read and makes one more interested in Portsmouth, which
is not really a locale which readily springs to mind when thinking of British
crime fiction.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
Deadlight by
Graham Hurley
