The Garden Party: A Harry Vicary Mystery

As Turnbull’s third mystery featuring Det. Insp. Harry Vicary (after 2011’s Deep Cover) begins, construction worker Alan Brady arrives at New Scotland Yard with an enigmatic note, which he discovered in a wall during a demolition project, concerning the location of buried bodies. With only a vague map to go by, Vicary’s team in the Murder and Serious Crimes Unit meticulously sifts through clues and reconstructs macabre events that unfolded five years before. Turnbull balances the portrait of grueling police work with tender glimpses of the after-hours lives of Vicary and his subordinates, including Yorkshire-born John Shaftoe and Penny Yewdall. Police dogs provide valuable clues by unearthing human bones, even as it becomes clear that the apparently gangland-related crime’s few remaining witnesses are no longer safe. Other than police procedural fans, few will find much entertainment in such a grim read, though it should certainly disabuse anyone of romantic notions concerning a life of crime. (Jan.)