DS Declan Miller is back with more bad jokes, passable ballroom skills, and determination to crack the case of his wife’s murder. 

 

Funny, despite DS Miller’s ‘jokes’ rather than because of them, tense and emotional. Another great outing from Mark Billingham’s tragicomic new series. 

 

Miller isn’t like your conventional detective story leading man. He’s not an alcoholic. His marriage seemed to be pretty healthy, even his imagined conversations with his late wife show a balanced relationship of equals. He has a group of good friends outside of the job. And, it’s his wacky humour and off-kilter thinking that brings him into conflict with his colleagues rather than lone wolf tendencies. 

 

And yet the plots are everything you want from a good detective novel, and well worth a read.