Blood Never Dies: A Bill Slider Mystery

Harrod-Eagles’s engrossing 15th Bill Slider mystery (after 2011’s Kill My Darling) has the London detective inspector investigating a fit, good-looking young man’s apparent suicide in a shabby flat. Only, as Slider realizes, the man didn’t commit suicide, but had his throat slashed after being drugged. The detective unravels the victim’s tangle of aliases to identify him as B.J. Corley, a wealthy and distinguished family’s highly accomplished scion. But why did he shave his legs, dye his hair, and become a minor actor in the pornography industry? Three more bodies that turn up murdered in the same way and disguised as suicides all prove to be linked to Corley’s secret life. As Slider’s team doggedly pursues the truth, vivid descriptions bring each detective to life, such as “scrawny frog-eyed” Det. Sgt. Colin Hollis. A sly wit that leavens this richly detailed mystery is a bonus. (Feb.)