Departing Shadows: A DI Christy Kennedy Mystery

A suspicious hit-and-run accident forms the basis of Charles’s unconvincing 11th mystery featuring Ulster-born detective inspector Christy Kennedy (after 2012’s A Pleasure to Do Death with You). Outside the London embassy of the People’s Republic of Gomorrah, Kennedy and his team from Camden Town find the body of porn star Gabriella Byrne, who had big plans for a mainstream film career. When embassy personnel stonewall Kennedy and video footage shows a Mercedes striking Gabriella several times, he takes a close look at an array of suspects from the Gomorrahian ambassador, Lars Sheeran, to Gabriella’s actress/dominatrix friend, Angela Convery. An attempt on Kennedy’s life raises the stakes. A disorganized and repetitive structure, clumsy writing, and implausible and irrelevant elements fail to engage. Charles falls short of the high standard set by earlier entries in this police procedural series. [em](Oct.) [/em]