In the satisfying eighth Det. Insp. Kennedy mystery, Kennedy picks up a missing person case in London’s Camden Town while easing back into work following an injury sustained in 2004’s The Justice Factory
. Elderly and prosperous, John Riley has simply vanished, leaving few clues. While swapping notes with Father O’Connor, a priest who knows Riley’s wife and is assisting the investigators, Kennedy forms a friendship with O’Connor’s genial friend Harry Ford. Then Ford is stabbed to death. Feeling personal loss and responsibility, Kennedy takes on the murder investigation, determined that Ford and his family will have justice. The clues are there for armchair sleuths, and the murder method one of the most bizarre ever devised. Charles adeptly fills in backstory without slowing the plot or interrupting the narrative flow. This series deserves recognition on a par with those of Inspectors Jury, Morse and Tennyson. (Nov.)
