In Harrod-Eagles's elegant 11th Bill Slider mystery (after 2005's Dear Departed
), the detective inspector investigates the murder of civil servant Ed Stonax, a former high-profile BBC correspondent, found dead with his skull smashed on the floor of his West London flat. Stonax had been looking into something to do with a building site in Scotland, but no one can break his computer code to find out exactly what. Meanwhile, Slider's ladies' man of an assistant, Jim Atherton, falls for Stonax's grieving daughter, Emily, and Slider and his musician love, Joanna, are trying to marry before their firstborn arrives. To complicate matters further, convicted murderer Trevor Bates (aka “The Needle”) is at large and threatening to get even with Slider. The various plot lines neatly intersect at the highest levels of government by the end of this appealing English whodunit. (June)
