Dead End

April 8, 2019
Spencer’s improbable 13th police procedural set in 1970s Lancashire finds Det. Chief Insp. Monika Paniatowski still in the coma that she entered in 2017’s The Hidden. Her devoted colleagues—womanizer Colin Beresford, pugnacious Kate Meadows, and Oxford grad Jack Crane—continue to visit her hospital room and discuss the cases they’re working on, in particular the discovery of a decomposing male body, whose face has been obliterated and whose fingertips have been removed. Beresford and the others don’t know whether she’s even aware of their presence, but Monika does understand what they’re saying and believes a link may exist between the current victim and a murder case she worked on four years earlier. As the plot spins out into ever more unlikely circles, touching on rogue spies, greedy politicians, and dastardly gentlemen who attended posh public schools, Monika, who’s trapped within her unresponsive body, begins to realize she may be marked for murder. As usual, the dynamics of the police team are fun to watch. Hopefully, Spencer will ground Monica’s next outing in more realistic crimes.

April 1, 2019
Once again, DCI Monika Paniatowski's team seeks to solve a thorny case without the expertise of its leader, who's in the hospital after having been the victim of an attack. After losing his young son to cancer and his wife to grief and estrangement, Archie Eccleston had little left in his life to love other than his tiny allotment on Old Mill Road. When the county council inform him that they're taking back the land, to be bulldozed with most of the others to make way for development, Archie knows what he needs to do. He chains himself to the fence, locking himself to the gate with two sturdy padlocks. For their part, the council call on the Mid-Lancs' finest, who now include Police Cadet Rutter (known to her friends as Louisa Paniatowski, Monika's daughter), to cut him loose. The mad scramble of Archie, the police, and the council's earthmover uncovers a body which in turn resurrects a cold case. Arthur Wheatstone, a fellow allotment holder, was found hanged in his garage four years ago in remote Barrow Village, and his killer conveniently disappeared. Wheatstone worked for British Aircraft Industry, so his death is of interest to a shadowy Mr. Forsyth, who wants certain details of Wheatstone's employment to remain secret. With DCI Paniatowski (The Hidden, 2017, etc.) still in a coma, Colin Beresford has been left in charge of her team. But one never knows, does one? As Forsyth moves to neutralize the comatose Monika, Beresford struggles to preserve her legacy, little suspecting how much he also needs to protect his vulnerable boss. The intrusion of the British version of the deep state into the world of brigands and bobbies brings a creepy new note to Spencer's long-running series.

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May 1, 2019
DCI Monika Paniatowski is on her way to testify in a court case when she hears an urgent bulletin that a break-in is in progress in Barrow Village. Since she hates testifying, and since she's close to where the break-in is occurring, it's an easy choice. When she reaches the site, the house being burgled looks quiet and empty, but an ex-cop who lives across the street saw a well-dressed man casing the place before the suspected burglar disappeared around the back of the house. But when Monika investigates, she receives a shock?one that will have far-reaching consequences for her and her crack team of detectives. The burglary is never solved, but four years later?after a personal tragedy has taken Monika out of the picture?it's up to her team, led by intrepid Acting DCI Colin Beresford, to untangle what turns out to be a thoroughly bizarre case. Solid writing and a plot full of unexpected twists make this a good read, but it's Paniatowski's diverse, quirky, and talented team that elevates this one to beyond the rank and file of British procedurals.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)