Cold Pursuit

DCS Fran Harman #2

by Judith Cutler

When a colleague becomes seriously ill, Chief Superintendent Frances Harman has to delay her impending retirement to oversee an investigation into a recent spate of ‘happy slappings’ and minor assaults in the Kent area. Initially, she begrudgingly takes a back seat in the case, but it is not long before she is once again perilously close to the action. The wave of assaults has ignited a media furor and Fran is concerned that an unnecessary atmosphere of mass hysteria is being generated in the area. She soon finds herself having to spend as much time trying to control the media as trying to catch the criminals. However, the local reporter that initially broke the story, Dilly Pound, may have personal reasons for taking such an avid interest in the case. As the crimes gradually escalate and the line between ‘happy slapping’ and serious sexual assault becomes blurred, all mention of retirement is postponed until Fran can resolve the nightmare that has enveloped around her.

Genres: Mystery, Ebooks, Fiction

366 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2007

About the author

Judith Cutler was born and bred in the Midlands, and revels in using her birthplace, with its rich cultural life, as a background for her novels. After a long stint as an English lecturer at a run-down college of further education, Judith, a prize-winning short-story writer, has taught Creative Writing at Birmingham University, has run occasional writing course elsewhere (from a maximum security prison to an idyltic Greek island) and ministered to needy colleagues in her role as Secretary of the Crime Writers' Association.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. A bit stodgy and laborious.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chief Superintendent Fran Harman is asked to put off her planned retirement when a colleague falls seriously ill. There is a particularly unpleasant man going around assaulting school girls and there is also a rash of happy slapping cases which seem to be more than usually unpleasant for the victims. Fran herself becomes involved in a happy slapping incident though fortunately she isn't too seriously injured. Then a young TV reporter asks for Fran's help as she thinks she is being stalked.

I was hooked on this book from the very first page and read it in less than a day. The plot with its intertwining strands, is very well constructed and the police characters are interesting and likeable. I think the problem often with books featuring more senior female police officers is that the characters lack a sense of humour and the ability to laugh at themselves. These are not qualities which Fran Harman lacks and it makes her all the more endearing as a character.

I have read this interesting and absorbing series completely out of order because of the order in which the books have become available as e-books and can confirm that you don't lose anything by reading them out of order.

[Lizzie Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chief Superintendent Fran Harman is considering several job offers as she prepares to retire from a successful career in the Kent Constabulary. After thirty years she is looking forward to fresh challenges including spending more time with her new partner. Then she gets a call from the Chief Constable and her planned departure is put on ice. Detective Chief Superintendent Henson, with whom Fran had a strained working relationship during the first book of the series, is seriously ill in hospital. Henson’s investigation into a spate of indecent assaults on young women requires Fran’s expertise to oversee the enquiry and she agrees to mentor her talented friend and colleague Detective Chief Inspector Jill Tanner. For good measure, the Chief also tasks the two women with the responsibility of addressing a spate of so-called “happy slapping” assaults that are being filmed and posted online. Fran soon finds herself once more confronting violent behaviour on the increasingly lawless streets of Kent.

Meanwhile, the armchair critics working for the press are keen to exploit the unsolved crimes for sensational headlines that criticise law enforcement officers. One such reporter is Dilly Pound. She is new to Kent and still cutting her teeth as a journalist. When she confronts Fran at a press briefing it quickly becomes apparent that there is a leak in the department. Fran is furious and the team can do without heightened anxiety within the community. Fran also senses that there is something else worrying the reporter, and she’s not wrong! Jill, too, is having to contend with challenges she could well do without as some members of her team clearly regard domestic violence as less serious than other forms of assault.

The book’s narrative is rich with intertwined plots that reveal the separate investigations as well as the personal and professional lives of the two female detectives and journalist Dilly Pound. The interconnected experiences of the three women are fascinating as they juggle high profile jobs whilst negotiating the highs and lows of their relationships. Fran and Mark are still in the early stages of their romance and are working out how to manage the time they spend in each of their still separate homes. Jill is coping with two teenagers and a sometimes less than supportive partner. Dilly’s issues prove to be even more complicated. The contest between the private and professional lives of the three women never distracts from the criminal thriller at the heart of the book; quite the contrary, it provides a highly realistic and engrossing context within which professional women in the early years of the twenty-first century were still negotiating their way within a workplace that was still predominately male.

Do No Harm is the second in Judith Cutler’s Fran Harman’s Mysteries series, it works perfectly well as a stand-alone. Previously published as Cold Pursuit, Do No Harm is a compelling thriller that is witty and captivating with a dash of romance. A great read.
------
Reviewer: Dot Marshall-Gent
For Lizzie Sirett (Mystery People Group)

[Nancy]

Cold Pursuit
(Fran Harman #2)
by Judith Cutler
4.05 · Rating details · 104 ratings · 12 reviews
When a colleague becomes seriously ill, Chief Superintendent Frances Harman has to delay her impending retirement to oversee an investigation into a recent spate of 'happy slappings' and minor assaults in the Kent area. Initially, she begrudgingly takes a back seat in the case, but it is not long before she is once again perilously close to the action. The wave of assaults has ignited a media furor and Fran is concerned that an unnecessary atmosphere of mass hysteria is being generated in the area. She soon finds herself having to spend as much time trying to control the media as trying to catch the criminals. However, the local reporter that initially broke the story, Dilly Pound, may have personal reasons for taking such an avid interest in the case. As the crimes gradually escalate and the line between 'happy slapping' and serious sexual assault becomes blurred, all mention of retirement is postponed until Fran can resolve the nightmare that has enveloped around her.

Great.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chief Superintendent Frances, Fran Harman;
Chief Constable of Crime, Mark Turner, they are dating;
Tom Arkwright, star pupil., DC Sue Hall
Dilly, Deliah Pond, reporter that is being stalked, TV Invicta News, Mr. Venn, Fiance - Daniel McDine;
Henson - out with a triple by-pass;
Cosmo Dix - Head of HR;
DCI Jill Tanner put in charge of investigation, Rob her son, who was into drugs, etc;
Jim Holden - FLASHER and STALKER, he worked on disabling certain CCTV cameras;
Tom & Sue, Noel Field, Harbijan;
Star pupil - drug dealing?
Vicar Stephen Hardy, fell while hiking and is paralyzed;

[Bernadette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great crime ( or two)

I’m sure that book three is going to feature on my TBR list.
I really enjoy the characters that featured in the first book and have developed in this book. The crimes were exciting enough to keep you wondering how the would be solved, but believable. Dilly made me cross at times and I felt truely sorry for Rob.
A great English police procedural with interesting crimes, great characters and unexpected elements.

[Julie Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the second story in the box set I have and I liked how Fran dealt with victims, villains and colleagues. Fran delays her retirement to help a short-staffed police service and investigates sexual crimes and youths hurting others. In fact, she is attacked...

A well-written story based around a strong female character, who is likeable, if sometimes a little foolish. Her relationship with Mark is good, though, I think she's far nicer than he.

Engaging and enjoyable.

[Barbara Deeprose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Good Read

DCS Fran Harman is still working as hard as she can although some people think she should be retiring, perhaps they don't know her as well as they should do. A young TV reporter approaches her, supposedly to talk about stalking in general, but it soon becomes clear it is more personal than that. Fran pulls out all the stops to try and help, I found this a good read and am on to the next book in the series.

[Barbara Birchall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good read

Good old fashioned police procedural.
Fran at her best, well paced and modern
Car share to Birmingham, a great way to avoid the cost to Kent police. Rather a lot of driving around for such a senior police officer, budget.?

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read but not compelling. Fran is trying to establish a life outside the police and focus on mentoring as well.

I will read further in the series.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty weak plot, and the ending was unremarkable. Got to know the main characters a bit better. I'll try the next to see if it's worth persevering with the series.

[Kerryn Forsyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first in the series

[Ann Harwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, as are all of Judith Cutlers books

[Sylvia Dinnage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do no harm

Excellent read I love Detective Harman straight to the point hands on the story moves on really well and this he happen as online

[valerie gosling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read

A really good storey enjoyed reading this book good plot great characters,and for once. You didn't have to know who the baddie was just enjoy the journey

[Terri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not like this as much as the first in the series.

[Cathy Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Line: "Chief Superintendent Harman! Ms Harman!"

So near and yet so far. Counting the few remaining days until her retirement, Detective Chief Superintendent Fran Harman is asked to fill in for a colleague who's undergone triple bypass surgery. All she has to do is oversee investigations into a rash of happy slappings (unprovoked attacks on individuals made in order to record the event on video phones) and minor assaults. Initially taking a backseat in these matters, due to the media frenzy it's not long before Fran is right in the thick of the action. Unfortunately she's spending as much of her time in an attempt to control the media as she is in trying to catch the criminals. The local reporter who broke the story has personal reasons for taking such an interest in the case, and as the crimes begin to intensify, there's no way Fran Harman is going to retire until she can resolve everything.

It's a shame for me as a reader that fifty-five-year-old Fran Harman is so close to retirement. She's reached a position of some authority, and you don't have to read very many pages before you know why. She doesn't waver at making tough decisions, she's not afraid of hard work, and she's a deft hand at working with her people and dealing with her superiors. She can even have the media eating from the palm of her hand:

"Is it true, Chief Superintendent Harman, that they've brought you back out of retirement to investigate these cases?"

"Golly, did I forget to park my Zimmer frame properly?" She looked about her in comic distress. "No, Ms Pound, I hadn't retired and have no immediate intention of doing so."


But this woman deserves retirement. For the first time in over twenty years, she's free to do as she pleases. Her children are grown and living their own lives. She's no longer spending every weekend caring for her aged parents. Moreover, she has a man in her life whom she loves dearly, and she'd like to be able to concentrate on their life together.

The investigations aren't solved by brilliant flashes of insight or marvels of deductive reasoning; they're solved by hard, dogged policework. Fran is in her element, although she does have to deal with a journalist who's such a timid blockhead that Fran doesn't know whether she wants to shake or slap Ms Dilly Pound-- and having the man she loves also be a police officer can put a crimp in her hands-on investigative style.

Reading Cold Pursuit lets you get to know an extremely talented police officer in her element. It's too bad Fran Harman can't be cloned and put in police forces around the world.

[P.D.R. Lindsay]

If a police procedural could be called cosy this is it.

Fran Harman is meant to be retiring from the police force. Here she is asked to hang on and sort out a nasty series of minor but disgusting sexual assaults.

Fran is mum and grandma to her staff, the office politics don't spoil her life and her new man, also in the force is ready to retire too. Makes a change from gritty, back stabbing, out to get you, police forces!

Good plot, 3D characters, enjoyable read. Anyone liking British police procedurals should enjoy this novel and the series.

I now only award stars when I can boost the author's rating with 5. I refuse to add stars when I cannot keep the ratings private for my own system.

[Dorothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another mystery in the Fran Harman series. I have read them out of chronological order but it doesn't seem to matter. The stories are set in Kent, England with a high ranking CID officer as the main character. Her management style and her need to be on the front line in solving cases leads to conflict within the power structure and the author does a good job in making her actions credible. One problem I have with the books is that I am often puzzled by the use of acronyms and names of organisations that mean nothing to me...but are likely easily understood by British readers. More than once I have had to resort to Googlee...or UK contacts for explanations.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally enjoyed this book and the main character, Fran. She is realistically portrayed with all the aches and pains of a woman of her age. Her relationships with her colleagues is an underlying theme that is also well-developed and accurate as to what is said, and not said, in such work relationships that can become friendships and more, and the delicate balancing act that can result. Throughout all the personal interactions are the various crimes Fran and her coworkers are trying to resolve. All of this is very well written and creates a book that is a delight to read and difficult to put down.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This breaks one of the rules of detective fiction, in that there is no murder, but the type of sexual assault investigated by our detective is a particularly disgusting one, which I've never come across before. I'm not sure if it is nasty enough to allow for the break from tradition. But it is nasty.
I enjoy the Machiavellian politics that take place in these books, which involve police at a much higher professional level then is the norm. And the strong feminist lens through which the goings on are viewed adds to my interest. The protagonist, Fran (I forget her full, impressive title) is an original, humane and empathetic woman. A well-written series.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a perfectly decent crime read and I have already got the next one by my side. My sense of mild disappointment derives from the comparison with the very fine first Fran Harman book.

There were a lot of strands in the book: the 'happy-slapping' cases, the 'flasher' cases, the 'stalker' case... whilst Fran worries about her old friend and colleague... and looks at houses to buy with her lover. The solution to some of these comes in too late somehow when it is not particularly surprising - although the seeming lack of satisfactory resolution in others is satisfying realistic.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly adequate and enjoyable mystery though nothing special.