Murders.com

At the start of British author Duffy’s uneven 20th Patrick Gillard and Ingrid Langley mystery (after 2016’s Dust to Dust), Ingrid, a crime novelist who works for the National Crime Agency in Avon and Somerset, goes out riding and finds an unconscious man, his head bloodied, lying on the bridle path. He turns out to be David Rolt, a member of a specialist undercover unit of the Metropolitan Police, who happens to be vacationing in the area. Soon after, the bodies of two men are found hanged not far from where Rolt’s attack took place. Are the two crimes connected? Patrick, who’s also an NCA officer, is soon on the case, supported by the ever-resourceful, no-nonsense Ingrid, who as narrator supplies a lot of plot-slowing information about cooking meals, tending to the couple’s five children, and other family matters. The dialogue at times sounds as if it came straight out of a 1960s English cop show (“keep your hair on”). Loyal fans invested in the main characters will best appreciate this one. (Sept.)