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Bill Slider #9
Чадър за инспектора
Инспекторът от отдел „Убийства” на лондонската полиция Бил Слайдър е натоварен с взривоопасен случаи. Не го искат нито Специалният отдел, нито групата за тежки престъпления. Защото спокойно можеш да си строшиш главата с него, да не говорим за кариерата. Следите от загадъчно убийство водят към покрити от правителствен „чадър” фирми за подслушвателна техника и към едно тихо учреждение със скромна табелка: „Американски културен център в Лондон”.
303 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
37 people are currently reading
135 people want to read
About the author
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
169 books494 followersCynthia Harrod-Eagles (aka Emma Woodhouse, Elizabeth Bennett)
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles was born on 13 August 1948 in Shepherd's Bush, London, England, where was educated at Burlington School, a girls' charity school founded in 1699, and at the University of Edinburgh and University College London, where she studied English, history and philosophy.
She had a variety of jobs in the commercial world, starting as a junior cashier at Woolworth's and working her way down to Pensions Officer at the BBC.
She wrote her first novel while at university and in 1972 won the Young Writers' Award with The Waiting Game. The birth of the MORLAND DYNASTY series enabled Cynthia Harrod-Eagles to become a full-time writer in 1979. The series was originally intended to comprise twelve volumes, but it has proved so popular that it has now been extended to thirty-four.
In 1993 she won the Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Novel of the Year Award with Emily, the third volume of her Kirov Saga, a trilogy set in nineteenth century Russia.
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles was born on 13 August 1948 in Shepherd's Bush, London, England, where was educated at Burlington School, a girls' charity school founded in 1699, and at the University of Edinburgh and University College London, where she studied English, history and philosophy.
She had a variety of jobs in the commercial world, starting as a junior cashier at Woolworth's and working her way down to Pensions Officer at the BBC.
She wrote her first novel while at university and in 1972 won the Young Writers' Award with The Waiting Game. The birth of the MORLAND DYNASTY series enabled Cynthia Harrod-Eagles to become a full-time writer in 1979. The series was originally intended to comprise twelve volumes, but it has proved so popular that it has now been extended to thirty-four.
In 1993 she won the Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Novel of the Year Award with Emily, the third volume of her Kirov Saga, a trilogy set in nineteenth century Russia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
August 31, 2017
Another quick and satisfying read in the DI Bill Slider series. A murder in the heart of Shepherd's Bush, London sets Slider and his team on the hunt for a killer who may be a professional hit man. And the body count keeps rising with no clues in sight except the presence of four distinctive leather jackets which seem to have a connection to the crimes. The story takes us through the dark underside of the city and the characters who inhabit it.......prostitutes, gamblers, loan sharks and others who live on the edge of society. They are a closed mouthed group and the team, even with some of it's inside connections, is having trouble making any sense of these crimes. Is there a Mr. Big running a crime syndicate which is unknown to the police or is Slider making more of these crimes than he should. He doesn't think so and the pressure is being put on him to deliver. And, of course, he does eventually.
I like this series in which the stories move along smoothly even though the humor of one of Slider's team gets a bit tiring. This is a series that can be read for a change of pace in between more serious works.
I like this series in which the stories move along smoothly even though the humor of one of Slider's team gets a bit tiring. This is a series that can be read for a change of pace in between more serious works.
April 25, 2017
A while back NetGalley offered a Bill Slider mystery (Old Bones) by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles that succeeded on a number of levels: good police procedural, great characterization and dialogue, an intricate plot, great writing, and excellent use of comic relief to break the tension. I knew I wanted more of the series, and I happened to find Gone Tomorrow on my last trip to the library.
A well-dressed man is found murdered in a park. All identification is missing, but a thousand pounds of cash has been left, so robbery was not the motive. Slider and his team's first step is to discover the name of the victim. This doesn't turn out to be as easy as they hoped; in fact, nothing in the investigation turns out to be easy, and the death toll mounts.
Harrod-Eagles scatters allusions to literature and contemporary culture throughout, and in the text they feel pretty natural and not at all distracting. In the chapter titles, on the other hand: "How Grim Was My Valet" and "From Err to Paternity" were obvious and amusing, but most, while funny in their own right, detracted from the seriousness of the plot. Some were just strained and awkward. It must have been fun for the author to come up with them, but perhaps the temptation should have been avoided.
Plot and characters--excellent. Chapter titles--not so much.
I liked Gone Tomorrow (2001) but Old Bones (2017) shows some differences in writing style that I appreciated more. Harrod-Eagles has progressed from very good in Gone Tomorrow to excellent in Old Bones--I'm eager to read more in the Bill Slider series, picking up from Gone Tomorrow and moving forward to the more recent books.
Library Copy.
Police Procedural/British. 2001. 367 pages.
A well-dressed man is found murdered in a park. All identification is missing, but a thousand pounds of cash has been left, so robbery was not the motive. Slider and his team's first step is to discover the name of the victim. This doesn't turn out to be as easy as they hoped; in fact, nothing in the investigation turns out to be easy, and the death toll mounts.
Harrod-Eagles scatters allusions to literature and contemporary culture throughout, and in the text they feel pretty natural and not at all distracting. In the chapter titles, on the other hand: "How Grim Was My Valet" and "From Err to Paternity" were obvious and amusing, but most, while funny in their own right, detracted from the seriousness of the plot. Some were just strained and awkward. It must have been fun for the author to come up with them, but perhaps the temptation should have been avoided.
Plot and characters--excellent. Chapter titles--not so much.
I liked Gone Tomorrow (2001) but Old Bones (2017) shows some differences in writing style that I appreciated more. Harrod-Eagles has progressed from very good in Gone Tomorrow to excellent in Old Bones--I'm eager to read more in the Bill Slider series, picking up from Gone Tomorrow and moving forward to the more recent books.
Library Copy.
Police Procedural/British. 2001. 367 pages.
January 15, 2020
I've enjoyed the Bill Slider series of police procedurals from the first book forward. These are well-told stories with a recurring cast of main and lesser characters. Character-driven. I know I can count on Harrod-Eagles to keep her cast true to form, an interesting crime and subsequent police investigation and plenty of human interest moments along the way. Steady goes the course.
August 29, 2022
A police procedural and my first from this author. Coming in at number 9 in the series, I didn't think I needed to know beforehand what had gone on before.
A stabbed body is found in a London park with very few clues who might have done it. Slider a no nonsense detective is given the case which centres on a couple of 'rough' London pubs and the underworld of drugs and organised crime.
There is a certain grittiness through out which gives the plot a bit of an edge. The case is solved of course although some aspects are not satisfactory to the police. This happens in real life and I could live with it.
Although the dialogue was crisp and fast flowing I found it difficult to follow at times due to some of the dialect and or shortened words.
The way the police acted or didn't act meant the case was drawn out. Throughout I kept thinking why didn't they do certain things in search of a witness, or if they searched the park and surroundings from the start, vital evidence would have been found sooner.
This was a decent read and it's obvious the author knows how to write a compelling tale.
A stabbed body is found in a London park with very few clues who might have done it. Slider a no nonsense detective is given the case which centres on a couple of 'rough' London pubs and the underworld of drugs and organised crime.
There is a certain grittiness through out which gives the plot a bit of an edge. The case is solved of course although some aspects are not satisfactory to the police. This happens in real life and I could live with it.
Although the dialogue was crisp and fast flowing I found it difficult to follow at times due to some of the dialect and or shortened words.
The way the police acted or didn't act meant the case was drawn out. Throughout I kept thinking why didn't they do certain things in search of a witness, or if they searched the park and surroundings from the start, vital evidence would have been found sooner.
This was a decent read and it's obvious the author knows how to write a compelling tale.
January 4, 2020
I'm sure real police procedure is as slow as this book, but it doesn't make for good reading. The book would have benefited from being cut by about 75 pages because there was a lot of repetition and tedious detail.
Still, I enjoy the police characters and the way they work together. Altogether love this series and can forgive this one not-so-interesting book.
Still, I enjoy the police characters and the way they work together. Altogether love this series and can forgive this one not-so-interesting book.
March 6, 2014
Gone Tomorrow (Bill Slider #9)
Fraudio> rosado> narrated by Terry Wale
summer 2013> tbr busting 2013
series> police procedure
brit> eng> london
under 100 ratings
Blurb: #9. Gone Tomorrow [2001], 11 hours 14 mins
When a body turns up in a gated Shepherd's Bush playground, DI Slider and his workaholic staff quickly realize that the victim was an unlikely candidate for murder. The baffling case of unlucky Lenny, a small-time dealer in stolen goods and drugs, blows open when, through a fortuitous but believable coincidence, Slider's sidekick and best friend, Det. Supt. Jim Atherton, discovers a connection between the victim and a mysterious crime syndicate. The meat of the story is how the methodical, intuitive Slider and his people identify the ringleader and unravel the mechanics of his organization, which ensures loyalty by viciously threatening its members.
3* Orchestrated Death (1991)
3* Death Watch (1992)
3* Death to Go (1993)
3* Dead End (1994)
3* Blood Lines (1996)
3* Killing Time (1996)
3* Shallow Grave
3* Blood Sinister
2* Gone Tomorrow (2001)
This number in the Bill Slider series only served to keep me up to date with the personal lives of the main players because the story lacked credibility.
Fraudio> rosado> narrated by Terry Wale
summer 2013> tbr busting 2013
series> police procedure
brit> eng> london
under 100 ratings
Blurb: #9. Gone Tomorrow [2001], 11 hours 14 mins
When a body turns up in a gated Shepherd's Bush playground, DI Slider and his workaholic staff quickly realize that the victim was an unlikely candidate for murder. The baffling case of unlucky Lenny, a small-time dealer in stolen goods and drugs, blows open when, through a fortuitous but believable coincidence, Slider's sidekick and best friend, Det. Supt. Jim Atherton, discovers a connection between the victim and a mysterious crime syndicate. The meat of the story is how the methodical, intuitive Slider and his people identify the ringleader and unravel the mechanics of his organization, which ensures loyalty by viciously threatening its members.
3* Orchestrated Death (1991)
3* Death Watch (1992)
3* Death to Go (1993)
3* Dead End (1994)
3* Blood Lines (1996)
3* Killing Time (1996)
3* Shallow Grave
3* Blood Sinister
2* Gone Tomorrow (2001)
This number in the Bill Slider series only served to keep me up to date with the personal lives of the main players because the story lacked credibility.
January 13, 2012
I'm generally a Bill Slider fan but the mystery in this book was rather weak. There was lots of clews but the conclusion pretty much had nothing to do with them. In fact if Slider and his crew had simply followed the most obvious path they would have got to the end much quicker. The eastern connection and the hints of exotic sexual practices and superior tailoring were nothing but distractions. Red herrings can add to the entertainment but this one had a whole shoal of them. Not to mention one death that was totally unexplained.
The original publication date was 2002 and the background does feel dated.
As for Slider and Atherton's personal lives-- there was a not I found particularly interesting. Joanna kept putting off having a conversation with Slider in a manner that suggested the author was trying to ratchet up the suspense. It fell a bit flat. I wished Atherton's SO had bonked him on the head with the bottle of wine and bouquet.
There were several cameo portraits of characters from the London streets and pubs that were interesting. I liked Atherton's tailor, "James Mason-- not the actor" who made a brief appearance with some useful information.
The original publication date was 2002 and the background does feel dated.
As for Slider and Atherton's personal lives-- there was a not I found particularly interesting. Joanna kept putting off having a conversation with Slider in a manner that suggested the author was trying to ratchet up the suspense. It fell a bit flat. I wished Atherton's SO had bonked him on the head with the bottle of wine and bouquet.
There were several cameo portraits of characters from the London streets and pubs that were interesting. I liked Atherton's tailor, "James Mason-- not the actor" who made a brief appearance with some useful information.
May 6, 2017
As always, the language in this novel is so wonderful. It must take a long time to make the prose flow this beautifully. Sounds like an odd thing to say about a murder mystery, but Harrod-Eagles is a fine stylist. And so funny/punny.
In this novel, the perp seems so likely to skate away, given that he's Mr Big, and I didn't entirely believe that he wouldn't have found his target, Teena, or his former shipmate, who "knew him when." The latter maybe, but the former is too much of a stretch.
There were also so many characters that I had a hard time keeping them straight. So many detectives and suspects and passers-by. It could have been streamlined a bit. That said, it was still a fine read. And I'm glad Slider's life will be more settled. We'll see, won't we?
In this novel, the perp seems so likely to skate away, given that he's Mr Big, and I didn't entirely believe that he wouldn't have found his target, Teena, or his former shipmate, who "knew him when." The latter maybe, but the former is too much of a stretch.
There were also so many characters that I had a hard time keeping them straight. So many detectives and suspects and passers-by. It could have been streamlined a bit. That said, it was still a fine read. And I'm glad Slider's life will be more settled. We'll see, won't we?
May 14, 2015
Like other Bill Slider mysteries, I enjoyed the reading of it. The variety of characters and language pulls me in. Although Slider never seems to have time to eat or sleep the pace is not frenetic so you can enjoy each scene of this police procedural. For some reason, I have never really engaged with the love interest part of the Slider mysteries so it was fine that there was little of it until the last chapter.
March 2, 2022
Loose Ends!
This is another of this author's novels in which the villain becomes known but is never arrested. It is very unsatisfying.
In addition to way too much description, the author introduces characters, such as Detective Chief Superintendent Palfreyman, to whom she devoted several pages, but then tells us no more about him or how he fits into the plot. It is a loose end, in my view, and detracts from the story.
Another loose end involves the wife of Detective Superintendent Porson, who apparently becomes seriously ill, but from what? We are never told, even though she eventually passes away in hospital.
Lenny Baxter is a small-time crook. He gets into a fight with Eddie Cranston, another small-time crook, outside a pub near a children's park, and he gives Eddie a black eye. A couple of hours later, Lennie's lifeless body is found sitting in a children's swing in the park. He had been stabbed through the heart and is very dead. Detective Inspector Bill Slider is assigned the case and develops some theories on which his team begins investigating.
Bill is convinced that there is a mysterious gang leader who is behind this, and other, murders, but his right-hand man, Detective Sergeant Jim Atherton, is not so sure. Who is right? Probably the hero, right?
The love of Bill's life, musician Joanna, visits a couple of time from The Continent, and we learn a little bit about Jim's love, Sue. Except for having sex like a couple of rabbits, we are not told very much about the couples, making them mostly two-dimensional characters in this author's stories.
The story is sufficiently entertaining that I read the entire novel, but I will probably not read any more in this series. There are better crime fiction authors out there.
This is another of this author's novels in which the villain becomes known but is never arrested. It is very unsatisfying.
In addition to way too much description, the author introduces characters, such as Detective Chief Superintendent Palfreyman, to whom she devoted several pages, but then tells us no more about him or how he fits into the plot. It is a loose end, in my view, and detracts from the story.
Another loose end involves the wife of Detective Superintendent Porson, who apparently becomes seriously ill, but from what? We are never told, even though she eventually passes away in hospital.
Lenny Baxter is a small-time crook. He gets into a fight with Eddie Cranston, another small-time crook, outside a pub near a children's park, and he gives Eddie a black eye. A couple of hours later, Lennie's lifeless body is found sitting in a children's swing in the park. He had been stabbed through the heart and is very dead. Detective Inspector Bill Slider is assigned the case and develops some theories on which his team begins investigating.
Bill is convinced that there is a mysterious gang leader who is behind this, and other, murders, but his right-hand man, Detective Sergeant Jim Atherton, is not so sure. Who is right? Probably the hero, right?
The love of Bill's life, musician Joanna, visits a couple of time from The Continent, and we learn a little bit about Jim's love, Sue. Except for having sex like a couple of rabbits, we are not told very much about the couples, making them mostly two-dimensional characters in this author's stories.
The story is sufficiently entertaining that I read the entire novel, but I will probably not read any more in this series. There are better crime fiction authors out there.
January 30, 2023
I do really love a Bill Slider story! As usual, the author has blended the hard-core police work with Slider’s life and view on policing so we get a well-rounded character who has real feelings and thoughts. In this book, I certainly felt Slider’s exhaustion and frustration with a case that is going nowhere very slowly and his worry/fear about Joanna, now working out of Amsterdam. Which of us has not felt that stomach-churning worry that the person we love is keeping a secret from us that we might not like to know but still need to know? In this book, a body of an unidentified man is found sitting on the swings in a park that’s supposed to be locked tight at sundown. No one knows who he is, so that’s the first item on the agenda. As the facts slowly, slowly trickle in, Slider and his team find themselves up against a “Mr Big” that no one has ever seen and therefore can’t identify. While Slider and Atherton have their own ideas, proving them will be difficult and dangerous, and as the body count rises, people are becoming ever more reluctant to come forward. Persistent police work, working the niggling little clues, and following barely marked paths finally bring the team at Shepherd’s Bush nick to a successful conclusion .
May 22, 2022
Someone stabbed Lenny Baxter to death in a London park. They found him sitting upright with a thousand pounds in his pocket, but his wallet and all else was gone. Whoever killed him knew exactly how to stab him. So perfect was the wound that he died instantly before he could bleed out. But Bill Slider and his associates meet with wall after wall of silence as they try to determine who the killer is. Before this ends, they will deal with single women in government housing who serve as baby factories for one suspect, and they’ll search for a mysterious prostitute who may have answers.
This is not rapid-action stuff. It’s methodical British police Procedural stuff, but it works well. The subplots that involve Slider’s personal life are nearly as good as the mysteries.
This is not rapid-action stuff. It’s methodical British police Procedural stuff, but it works well. The subplots that involve Slider’s personal life are nearly as good as the mysteries.
October 6, 2024
Deserves 4.25 stars.
The case that Detective Inspector Bill Slider begins investigating is the death of a man found dead in a park sitting on a children's swing. He was found in the morning when the park opened, stabbed in the heart
The victim was involved in various illegal activities. No one admits to seeing anything happen. It turns out to be only the first murder in this book, which also involves a mysterious, unidentified crime baron.
A much more positive aspect is Slider's romance with his girl friend, Joanna, who is usually away in Amsterdam playing the violin with an orchestra. When she can, she comes back to London even if it is only for a brief period of time.
The case that Detective Inspector Bill Slider begins investigating is the death of a man found dead in a park sitting on a children's swing. He was found in the morning when the park opened, stabbed in the heart
The victim was involved in various illegal activities. No one admits to seeing anything happen. It turns out to be only the first murder in this book, which also involves a mysterious, unidentified crime baron.
A much more positive aspect is Slider's romance with his girl friend, Joanna, who is usually away in Amsterdam playing the violin with an orchestra. When she can, she comes back to London even if it is only for a brief period of time.
June 4, 2017
Maybe i'm reading too many of these too close together, but I'm starting to notice some repetitions and similarities in plotting. Nevertheless, the characters are still winning, and the writing is literate and funny. These are really police procedurals, and the development of the case can be a bit painstaking and slow. There is very little suspense--the interest lies in the characters, dialogue, and unravelling of the mystery.
May 4, 2021
Yes! This is the very best Slider book to date. I love it. Why? To begin: four bodies. A man so evil, so vile that you want to execute him yourself. Then for the greatest part of the book, no leads, no clues, no bloodstained murder weapon. But it all came together in the last couple of chapters when they began delving into the background of some of the key characters. The absolute best news ... well, I won’t spoil it for you, but it is grand.
July 14, 2022
I must admit I have trouble remembering the plots of this series (and certainly not the titles, which I rarely understand), but they are always good fun while I'm reading. The characters, as usual, are great, and the dialog even better. The plot in this one is not the book's strong point, but I enjoyed the ride.
May 3, 2018
The books in this series are, of course, deadly serious. But, they are also lots of fun with lots of word play and many, quite funny mangled metaphors. I like the intelligence of the main characters. And, only once in a while am able to figure who dunnit. Not this one though.
October 9, 2017
Love the chapter headings.
May 13, 2018
A good story marred by being too long. Also clearly one of the early Sliders,
her style has benefitted from maturity.
her style has benefitted from maturity.
August 30, 2019
My least favourite yet: grittier and not as amusing. I found the ending a little bit much - both of them???
April 29, 2020
Great series recommended
June 10, 2025
Slow, uninteresting. Ending unsatisfying, ie nothing happened. Last book for me by this author.
July 20, 2010
9th Bill Slider a little dull, but Joanna & Sue resolved !
We've had to wait close to four years for the latest (Brit) Detective Inspector Bill Slider since "Blood Sinister", so we were delighted to get hold of this hardback and catch up on Slider and love-interest and roommate Joanna; his sidekick Atherton (and his new love interest, Joanna's friend Sue); and the gang at Shepherd's Bush PD. The plot gets going in a hurry as a dead body is discovered in a park; and we're off and running despite a paucity of clues in this entertaining police procedural. It takes an awfully long time and another body or two to head the good guys to the right solution, so the reading gets a little logy at times. Meanwhile, we learn Joanna did take the orchestra job over on the continent, so her live-in relationship with Bill is pretty cold -- phone calls and an occasional visit or two per month is causing its own share of frustrations for our ever so gentle leading man.
Harrod-Eagles is a lovely writer who gets us inside the heads and hearts of our favorite characters. While they busily solve crimes, the leading characters become our friends and companions, and their relationships and affairs matter to us. Their skills at solving murders and other crimes are impressive, and generally the plots satisfy. This one is probably a tad weaker than some other entries in the series, but we do finally find out the status of Joanna and Bill, and Sue and Atherton. In all honesty, this novel will probably appeal to the author's faithful fan club; but read standalone without the previous eight as background, it would probably generate only lukewarm enthusiasm among the average reader. Hopefully now that some of the love-life stuff is resolved, maybe the zip will be back in the tenth entry to be released mid-year 2004. New readers might well just wait.
We've had to wait close to four years for the latest (Brit) Detective Inspector Bill Slider since "Blood Sinister", so we were delighted to get hold of this hardback and catch up on Slider and love-interest and roommate Joanna; his sidekick Atherton (and his new love interest, Joanna's friend Sue); and the gang at Shepherd's Bush PD. The plot gets going in a hurry as a dead body is discovered in a park; and we're off and running despite a paucity of clues in this entertaining police procedural. It takes an awfully long time and another body or two to head the good guys to the right solution, so the reading gets a little logy at times. Meanwhile, we learn Joanna did take the orchestra job over on the continent, so her live-in relationship with Bill is pretty cold -- phone calls and an occasional visit or two per month is causing its own share of frustrations for our ever so gentle leading man.
Harrod-Eagles is a lovely writer who gets us inside the heads and hearts of our favorite characters. While they busily solve crimes, the leading characters become our friends and companions, and their relationships and affairs matter to us. Their skills at solving murders and other crimes are impressive, and generally the plots satisfy. This one is probably a tad weaker than some other entries in the series, but we do finally find out the status of Joanna and Bill, and Sue and Atherton. In all honesty, this novel will probably appeal to the author's faithful fan club; but read standalone without the previous eight as background, it would probably generate only lukewarm enthusiasm among the average reader. Hopefully now that some of the love-life stuff is resolved, maybe the zip will be back in the tenth entry to be released mid-year 2004. New readers might well just wait.
Read
July 29, 2011I have read several entries in the Bill Slider series this past month, and this one follows Blood Sinister, but after a somewhat lengthy period of time (4 years)--the author is also the author of romance novels so maybe she got wrapped up in writing something else, but in any case, I was getting a bit unhappy with the contrived convolutions of her plots. The body of a man is found in a park with a single well placed stab wound to the heart and alot of cash. There follows several other dead bodies that ultimately lead SLider in the right direction, and interspersed with the mystery are the ongoing love lves of Slider and his gal Joanna--which is maturing into an interesting long distance relationship=-and a plot twist at the end that promises more in the next book in this arena, and Atherton's getting seriously entangled with a musician of his own. I like the non-mystery parts of these books more than the mystery, which might be explained by the fact that she is a romance novelist at heart.
September 21, 2007
gone Tomorrow - G
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - 9th in series
Inspector Bill Slider is called to cope with a disfigured corpse grotesquely left in a children's playground. His enquiries plunge him into the shadow world behind the fashionable facade of Shepherd's Bush, among the victims of the Welfare State and the crime barons who prey on them; a world where no-one is who he says he is, and lying to the police is second nature. Slider's thankless task is to convince the witnesses, against all available evidence, that honesty really is the best policy. And with his lover Joanna away, fate seems suddenly determined to strew his private life with temptations...
Great series.
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - 9th in series
Inspector Bill Slider is called to cope with a disfigured corpse grotesquely left in a children's playground. His enquiries plunge him into the shadow world behind the fashionable facade of Shepherd's Bush, among the victims of the Welfare State and the crime barons who prey on them; a world where no-one is who he says he is, and lying to the police is second nature. Slider's thankless task is to convince the witnesses, against all available evidence, that honesty really is the best policy. And with his lover Joanna away, fate seems suddenly determined to strew his private life with temptations...
Great series.
April 9, 2012
There was a whole lot less of Slider's personal life and a lot more of detecting in this novel. I can't even say it was police procedural. Yes, the officers obeyed the law, but there were a lot of hunches followed up, a lot of seemingly unattached ends to pull together, and Harrod-Eagles did a wonderful job of keeping them separate until the penny dropped. I loved the bull sessions where the whole team pooled their info - I love the teasing, the sly remarks, the humor. And while there was not a lot of his personal life, the bits that were there were very interesting. I love this series.
July 2, 2015
#9 in the Detective Inspector Bill Slider mystery series set in a London suburb. A body is found in a small park which sends Slider and his team on a quest to find the murderer in what becomes more complicated as the investigation continues.
This is a bit of a slow moving police procedural which mimics the actual pace of an investigation starting from scratch with no real information. So Slider and his team slog through the process of seeking information, then following up on the bits and pieces they discover to build a case.
This is a bit of a slow moving police procedural which mimics the actual pace of an investigation starting from scratch with no real information. So Slider and his team slog through the process of seeking information, then following up on the bits and pieces they discover to build a case.
May 3, 2013
I have to remind myself that just because a mystery takes place in England doesn't make it Agatha Christie. I don't care for police procedurals at all and this one being English didn't help much. Every single victim is an ugly, evil, unpleasant person and it’s hard to care much about whodunnit. Plus, the book is chock full of slang and jargon that make it very hard to follow.
August 4, 2013
I liked the bon mots, the humor and the main characters but I couldn't warm to the investigation of a murder after two drinkers got into a fight at a bar. Urban crime, a fact of life but not very engrossing.
September 25, 2016
Another great story of Detective Inspector Bill Slider and his cronies in London. Quite a bit this time about his ongoing romance with Joanna. I love the comedic repartee. These guys hardly ever let their job get them down. Great read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews