Play with Fire

British author Shaw’s solid fourth mystery starring the Metropolitan Police’s Det. Sgt. Cathal Breen (after 2016’s A Song for the Brokenhearted) opens with the discovery of the body of guitarist Brian Jones, the former Rolling Stone, in his swimming pool. Later, some investigators suspect Jones didn’t die of natural causes, but his death has nothing to do with the main plot: Breen’s investigation of the murder of a prostitute who called herself Julie Teenager, whose body was concealed on top of an elevator in her London apartment building. Though the dead woman, actually 26-year-old Lena Bobienski, had many clients, Breen is surprised to learn that Scotland Yard’s vice squad has no file on her under either name. A press report claiming that her johns included members of the establishment suggests the reason Bobienski was officially unknown to the police, despite the beat constable’s awareness of the nature of the traffic in and out of her building. The serious injury or death or three more people raises the tension. Fans of Deborah Crombie will be pleased, but those expecting a substantial look at the Jones case will be disappointed. (Aug.)