In Guilty Night

Taylor's second novel about detective chief inspector Michael McKenna (after Simeon's Bride) and his colleagues of the North Wales constabulary explores the murder of a male runaway sprawled naked across train tracks. When the autopsy finds sexual abuse, the investigators suspect dark doings at the local orphanage. This gloomy Welsh setting is matched by an effectively dark tone: the interactions of the disparate police officers and their bitter but believable comments on work and life (""it's so bloody cold in here we'll be able to see the lies coming out of peoples mouths"") sustain interest as the unhurried whodunit develops. Taylor's interest in character and mood mostly offsets the lack of pace from her circuitous plotting. (June)