Naked Flames

In British author Ison’s diverting 17th Brock and Poole mystery (after 2018’s Deadlock), curmudgeonly yet likable Det. Chief Insp. Harry Brock, of the Homicide and Major Crime Command West, and his team, including his clever sidekick, Det. Sgt. David Poole, investigate the suspicious death of a nudist, Robert Sharp, in a fire at a naturist club near Harrow. The fire chief at the scene tells Brock that the evidence suggests that the victim was dead before the fire started. Not surprisingly, Sharp turns out to have been a con man and a philandering husband, who has left a meandering trail of broken hearts and angry, disillusioned women across Britain. Could one of them have wanted him dead? Meanwhile, Brock takes one tiny step closer to the 21st century when he buys a book called Computers for Seniors for Dummies so he can understand the computer lingo his colleagues use. A fine ensemble cast and some amusing dialogue lift this reassuringly anodyne offering. Fans of sweetly old-fashioned police procedurals will be rewarded. Agent: Bill Hamilton, A.M. Heath (U.K.). (Oct.)