Thought For The Day by
David Armstrong
pbk out September 98
(HarperCollins)
at £5.99
The fourth novel from David Armstrong, but the first one to land on my desk. Detective Inspector Kavanagh is not an easy character to get to know, and during the early going I wondered if I wanted to bother. But he grows on you. He's another loner, with a cat and a yearning for a wife who has left. A workaholic cop.
He's got a ground-floor flat in Crouch End and is in charge of a kidnapping case. He's lonely and advertising for a 'good woman' in the Guardian's personal ads, and he's got a mild obsession with the weather. Oh, yes, and he's getting a bit out of touch with the modern world. He can remember when post office drivers wore uniforms.
I don't believe that policemen are like this, but I'm ever willing to escape reality.
The plot of this novel concerns the kidnapping of a business executive, and gives the writer the opportunity to draw a fine and detailed picture of Frank Kavanagh. Well before the end I was completely sold on the man. Unfortunately, David Armstrong doesn't take so much care with his peripheral characters, and the rest of the cast fade into insignificance. Nevertheless, this is the best police procedural I have read since Black and Blue , and I look forward to more novels from this fine writer.
(
John Baker
- author of the Sam Turner mysteries and one of Britain's most highly acclaimed writers)
