Hard Going: A Bill Slider Mystery

Det. Insp. Bill Slider of Shepherd’s Bush, London, investigates a retiree’s murder in Harrod-Eagles’s cleverly constructed 16th series entry (after 2012’s Blood Never Dies). The victim, Lionel Bygod, despite a wide circle of acquaintances and a reputation for philanthropy, proves to have had few friends who knew anything about his pre-retirement life as a solicitor, much less what would lead to him being bludgeoned to death in his own study. Through routine police work, Bill and his crew locate Lionel’s ex-wife, June Bromwich, and determine that his housekeeper, Angela Kroll, has shady family members. The key to the case, though, seems to be Bygod’s successful defense of one Noel Roxwell against child molestation charges, which engendered dire threats from the victim’s father, Derek Crondace. Slider is assisted in his investigation by a strong supporting cast, including malapropism-prone Det. Supt. Fred Porson and attractive Det. Constable Kathleen Swilley. Harrod-Eagles continues to entertain with this well-plotted, gracefully written procedural series. (Feb.)