Hidden Witness

A number of implausibilities, including the failure of the bad guys to finish people off when they have the chance, undercut Oldham's 15th police procedural featuring Det. Supt. Henry Christie (after 2010's Seizure). When two teenage boys on a mugging spree go after an old man in a Blackpool street, their intended victim eludes them, only to be run over multiple times by a car and then shot dead by one of the car's occupants. The boys flee, fearing the gun man will get them, too. The authorities eventually identify the dead man as an Italian gangster. Christie, who was looking forward to a holiday in Venice with his wife, instead stays home to investigate. That Christie takes advantage of his wife's absence to pursue an attractive female coroner may not endear him to some readers. Others may find the revelation of those behind the gangster's killing and their motive too over-the-top. (Feb.)