A Dangerous Friendship

This contemporary police procedural from British veteran Ashford (Illegal Guilt ) offers lackluster plotting and characterization. Kent County Det. Constable Andy Gregg finds himself in trouble when burglars strike shortly after Gregg’s routine security survey of Querry Brade, a 15th-century manor house, and before its owners can install the security system he recommended. The criminals make off with valuable jewelry, and soon Gregg somehow manages, on his modest salary, to buy his pregnant wife, Wendy, an expensive ring. When a police officer is killed during another theft, Gregg’s superiors consider him a potential accessory before the fact. By identifying the real culprit early on, Ashford undercuts the suspense. The climax, with Wendy playing a clichéd role when confronted with a knife-wielding assailant, doesn’t elevate the story line above the ordinary. (Dec.)