Starred review from June 30, 2008
In 10 novels over 10 years (1989–1998), Charlie Resnick, the jazz-loving police detective, made Nottingham's turf familiar to readers who never came within 1,000 miles of it. Now, after a supporting role in Ash & Bone
(2005), an older Charlie on the cusp of retirement makes a welcome and brilliant return. A pair of murder investigations form a knotty tangle, reflecting nasty changes in Nottingham: the first a gang dispute resulting in a fatal shooting, the second the murder of an East European prostitute imported for the sex trade. The latter case collides with a separate inquiry mounted by the SOCA (Serious and Organized Crime Agency). As always, Harvey handles the police procedural aspects with easy competence. But the characterization shines brightest as the thoroughly decent, competent Charlie navigates the treacherous waters of his profession that threaten to swamp his personal life.
Starred review from July 1, 2008
WhenHarvey ended his 10-volume Charlie Resnick series nearly 10 years ago with the sublime Last Rites, we commented thathe had found the perfect tonic chord with which to end a nearly perfect series. And, yet, its impossible not to greet the return of Resnick in this eleventh, coda-like, deeply melancholy novel with anything but celebration. In the last decade, Resnick loyalists have been able to keep up with the beleaguered Nottingham detective inspector through a smattering of short stories and his cameos in Harveys new Frank Elder series, but nothing will prepare them for the shock that awaits in the first third of this gripping new adventure (no spoilers here). Nearing retirement, Charlie has been called back from routine assignments to help investigate a gang-related knifing that has left a teen girl dead and an inner-city community enraged. When Charlies colleague and now live-in lover Lynn Kellogg uncovers a possible link to a human-trafficking ring, the case takes on heightened pressure. The investigation reveals again Harveys ability to capturenot onlythe plodding nature of police work but also the uncommon determination ofa good copper to tease out truth. But behind that lurks, even more powerfully here, a sense of futilitythe bad guys stay bad, and the system still impedes all progress. Resnick has always been able to find the humanity in the crushed lives of the urban underclass, but the effort is beginning to wear him down. Charlie ends the novel listening to Bessie Smith sing Cold in Hand and wondering how he will avoid becoming old and bitter. A good question for a good man.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)