Reckless Endangerment: A Brock and Poole Mystery

Airline hostess Sharon Gregory claims that a burglar tied her up during the break-in that led to the murder of her accountant husband in Ison’s smoothly written 13th procedural featuring Det. Chief Insp. Harry Brock and Det. Sgt. Dave Poole of London’s Metropolitan Police (after 2013’s Make Them Pay). Sharon’s story has some obvious holes, and her blatantly promiscuous lifestyle puts Brock and Poole on to several possible accomplices. Sharon disappears as the search for indictable evidence intensifies, and then a second murder forces Brock to consider other possible scenarios. Brock’s competent team carry out a lot of tedious police work, including interviews, checking and rechecking alibis, and examining some unexpected forensic evidence. Competent plotting and well-drawn characters, such as Det. Kate Ebdon, an Australian with a sharp wit and sharper tongue, make this a consistently entertaining series. (May)