Over the Edge by
Stuart Pawson
hbk out October 04
Published by Allison Busby
at £18.99
A very good read, a police procedural with a bit of wit and good nature.
Another set in Yorkshire, which geographically seems to be getting the
lion's share of cop books these days.
Stuart Pawson's tenth novel in his Detective Inspector Charlie Priest
series starts with the murder of a Leeds night club owner ordered by a
business rival Peter Wallenberg. Little progress is made with the
investigation, then a second killing occurs in Heckley, where Charlie
Priest is the ruling DI. This time it is a well-known Everest mountaineer,
who was in school with Charlie. He is killed with an antique ice-axe and
again, motive is in short supply. The plot developes to embrace the
modern slave trade, where young women are enticed from Eastern
Europe with promises of reputable work, to be forced into prostitution
and eventually killed.
In spite of the fact that Priest's lady friend, who has a depressive disorder,
takes a fatal overdose during the story, the overall feel of the book has a
quirky humour which makes a change from the many books where po-
faced detectives beat their breasts about lost wives, broken love-affairs
and career crises. For once I agree with a newspaper critic (though it was
from the Morning Star) who said 'one of the least tortured, most
engaging cops on the shelves at the moment.'
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
Over the Edge by
Stuart Pawson
