Born in a Burial Gown

British author Craven’s exceptional first novel, a police procedural set in Cumbria, introduces compulsive Det. Insp. Avison Fluke, who never feels more alive than when he’s hot on a killer’s trail. Fluke and his eccentric colleagues investigate the maddeningly complex case of an unidentified young woman shot execution-style and dumped at a hospital construction site. Meanwhile, Fluke, who’s recuperating from aggressive cancer treatment, must contend with his unpleasant superiors, Det. Supt. Cameron Chambers and Chief Insp. Don Holland; the threatened loss of his beloved monastic rural home above Ullswater; and a crumbling romantic relationship. Deft atmospherics and local color, meticulous cop-shop and medical details, and an intriguing cast of realistic secondary characters keep the pages turning. Among the many fictional police detectives beset by grave personal and professional stresses within this genre, Fluke and his team stand out for their compassion, despite a job that so often confronts the worst in human nature. (Jan.)