Reviews: Three Detective Novels

by Elizabeth Read

The Shadows in the Street by Susan Hill

A psychological thriller, The Shadows in the Streets depicts terror unfolding in the English cathedral town of Lafferton.   Prostitutes are going missing and the police are stumped for clues when their strangled bodies are found. Each of the female characters has her own secret sorrow, whether it be dealing with widowhood, bipolar disorder, or hoping to get off streets to make a better life for her family. The reader’s sympathy for their plights ramps up the tension as public outcry rises after a young married woman is killed, and DCS Simon Serrailler is frustrated by the scarcity of leads. Suspects include a loner librarian who spends his evenings delivering hot drinks and sandwiches to the women on the streets, a bad tempered pimp, and the members of a Reachout van that patrols the area handing out religious tracts.

Susan Hill does a credible job of developing characters and atmosphere in this, the fifth of the Serarailler novels.

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo

The Norwegian detective, Harry Hole, returns in this latest book of the compelling crime series. The action starts with a happy family noticing a snowman in their yard as dinner is being prepared. Not only is the snowman looking away from the street and into the house, but nobody knows who made it. This eerie symbol is connected to snowmen that have been found at other crime scenes involving missing women. Harry is certain that a serial killer is at work and he connects the disappearances to a menacing letter he has received from someone calling himself The Snowman.

A high-functioning alcoholic, Harry has issues about working in the system. Despite his flaws, he’s a highly capable detective valued by his colleagues. The elaborately planned crimes are horrific and the tension ratchets up as people close to Harry are threatened. With red herrings and episodes from the past tangled with current happenings, the reader is kept guessing right to the suspense-filled conclusion.

Midnight Fugue by Reginald Hill

Superintendent Andy Dalziel is back and up to his old tricks in Reginald Hill’s Midnight Fugue. The latest in this series of police procedural novels set in Yorkshire opens with Dalziel sitting in a church, listening to the organist and wondering what day it is. Still recovering from an injury and not completely settled back into his police routine, Dalziel once again finds himself bending the rules. This time he’s agreed to help out a colleague by determining whether a crooked police officer who has been missing for seven years has resurfaced. Bulldozing his way right into the middle of things, Dalizel is up against an extensive cast of characters, including the ruthless leader of a criminal enterprise with henchmen helping to keep old secrets buried. As usual, things are not as simple as they appear to be and the heavy-handed Dalziel digs out the truth, to the frustration of his regulations-ruled sidekick, DI Pascoe, who is often left to clean up the pieces of a Dalziel investigation.

Midnight Fugue proves to be another witty and entertaining tale about this unforgettable detective, whose character flaws are balanced by his intuitive skills.