Welsh author Lewis holds nothing back in this unflinching noir, his second novel to feature PI Robin Llywelyn to be made available in the U.S. (after 2008's Swansea Terminal
). A former debt collector who once had hopes of joining the police, Llywelyn now spends his days drinking and lurching from one moment to the next. In debt to a loan shark, Llywelyn hopes for a significant payday from a new client, Mrs. Dixon, who suspects her husband of marital infidelity. Mrs. Dixon's demand that the evidence of same be captured on videotape dramatically increases his expenses. In keeping with his preference to deal with immediate problems without weighing future consequences, Llywelyn goes further into debt by borrowing thousands of pounds from a shylock. While the plot line is serviceable, the book's power lies in Lewis's evocative prose coupled with the warts-and-all portrayal of Llywelyn, who knows that he's on a self-destructive path, but is unable to turn aside. (June)
