London Calling

A tired plot line hobbles journalist Craig’s debut, the first in a police procedural series featuring Metropolitan Police Insp. John Carlyle. Britain is on the verge of elevating the so-called Golden Twins—brothers Edgar and Xavier Carlton—to the highest positions in the land as prime minister and foreign secretary, respectively, in the upcoming general election. Their induction is imperiled by Carlyle’s murder inquiry into the death of consultant Ian Blake, found in a hotel room with a knife sticking out of his backside. Carlyle soon traces a connection between the dead man and the Carltons via their membership in “an ultra-exclusive Cambridge University fraternity famous in equal measure for its hard drinking and bad behaviour,” and learns that another member was killed in a similar manner before Blake. Once that link is uncovered, there are few surprises as Carlyle races the clock to catch the murderer before the Carltons become victims as well. (Oct.)