Hitmen I Have Known

Set in an unnamed English city, James’s stylish 35th mystery featuring Det. Chief Insp. Colin Harpur and his over-the-top and off-the-rails partner, Assist. Chief Constable Desmond Iles (after 2017’s Close), finds TV producers targeting Iles about an unsolved homicide case. As Iles laments, “They want to prove I murdered two villains who’d dodged a murder conviction a while ago... This is the sort of controversial situation that the TV people will love to exploit in a slightly tarted-up, semi-fictionalized documentary.” Unfortunately for Iles, others also think he may be involved in the deaths, including some “devoted stirrers from the Home Office” and a couple of dope-peddling entrepreneurs, Ralph Ember and Mansel Shale, whose businesses have “existed mainly because Iles let them exist for the sake of peace on the streets, and, if he was removed from his job, this ducky helpfulness would also be removed.” Ember and Shale decide to take things into their own bungling hands. James overdoes the comic shtick at times, but series fans will have fun. Agent: Euan Thorneycroft, A.M. Heath (U.K.). (May)