Kith and Kin: A Henry Johnstone Mystery

The discovery of two dead men on a desolate stretch of the Kentish marshes in December 1928 propels Adams’s outstanding third mystery featuring Scotland Yard’s Det. Chief Insp. Henry Johnstone (after 2017’s Death Scene). Both men have been stabbed in similar places in the chest but with different weapons, one of which leaves an unusual round wound. When one is identified as the henchman of a notoriously cruel London crime boss, it looks as though the two may be victims of a gangland turf war. However, the intelligent, introspective Johnstone thinks the unusual location of the bodies is significant, and he and his sidekick, Det. Sgt. Mickey Hitchens, cast their net wider, discovering that other victims have been killed with the same round weapon. Are the deaths part of a revenge scenario? Or is the motive something more complex and sinister? Fascinating facts about life in the 1920s anchor the period in an almost visceral way, while information about such police concerns as the development of forensic science flows easily into the text. Historical fans are in store for an edifying treat. (Dec.)