Make Them Pay: A Brock and Poole Mystery

In Ison’s methodical 12th police procedural featuring Det. Chief Insp. Harry Brock and Det. Sgt. Dave Poole (after 2012’s Gunrunner), the London detectives tackle triple murders whose effects are felt in Germany, France, the U.S., and the Bahamas. The torture killing of Nigerian Samson Adekunle, followed by the execution-style slayings of a German man and woman all land on Brock’s desk. Discovering the identity of the Germans, whose bodies were badly burned, is accomplished with the help of German policeman Horst Fischer, who also links the two—Hans Eberhardt and Trudi Schmidt—to a major stock fraud operation. Finding and investigating Eberhardt and Schmidt’s victims and the victims’ kin eventually leads to further overseas connections and complications. The highly competent Brock deals with his officious, budget-conscious commander, makes frequent references to how real police work differs from TV dramas, and leads his team to a successful, if unsurprising, conclusion. (Apr.)