Tuesday 11 June 2013

Good Bait - John Harvey

Crime thriller of the take it on a flight popular fiction variety.
Taking it's title from a piece of music there are frequent references to different versions of the same riff throughout the book.
DCI Karen Shields is called to a scene of crime in London to view an east European boy frozen in a lake with only his face showing and no identity papers on him.
Meanwhile in Cornwall a local bobby gets a visit from a woman he knew forever ago whose daughter has gone missing. With a history between the three he decides to take time out from seagull watching to try and find out what has happened to her. The trail leads initially to London and almost immediately to news that the mother has fallen in front of a tube train. A little more help from his PI friend and it's established that the daughter has connections to a group of eastern Europeans.
Gradually the two threads intertwine with a touch of violence thrown into the mix.
For me this one was a little too heavy on the filler descriptions eg Marks and Spencer meals for one and a little too light on the mystery.
Since this is a popular writer it may just be that I have picked one that has been produced as the annual book released by John Harvey. I won't let it put me off trying another but I will make sure it's an earlier book.

Publisher - Arrow Books

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