Dead of Night: A Tom Mariner Mystery

In British author Collett’s gripping seventh mystery featuring Birmingham Det. Chief Insp. Tom Mariner (after 2013’s Blood and Stone), the police are slow to investigate the disappearance of Grace Clifton, the 18-year-old daughter of a domineering local council leader, because they assume she’s a runaway. When a package addressed to a police officer turns out to contain the clothes that Grace was last seen wearing, “pressed and perfectly folded,” the real detective work begins. Meanwhile, Mariner must break in a new team while juggling a fresh love interest and the care of his grown autistic foster son, Jamie. Mariner feels the strain, especially after another young woman goes missing and the pattern repeats itself. Collett carefully depicts the slow, plodding drudgery of actual police work amid a web of red herrings, blind alleys, and glimpses of Mariner’s private life. Procedural fans are in for a really good time. (Jan.)