Headlong is the twenty-first Detective Inspector Bill Slider mystery by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, but
the first one I read. As a fan of police procedurals, I’ve been missing an intriguing series. Harrod-Eagles follows Shadow Play with a complex story that requires step-by-step police procedures.
It’s just Detective Inspector Bill Slider’s bad luck that he’s the one called to the scene of a death that interests Commander Carpenter. Carpenter wants Slider’s team to call the death an accident and keep it out of the news. However, Ed Wiseman was a famous literary agent. He didn’t just fall out of his window into a construction site. Supposedly, “everyone” loved Ed Wiseman. Then Slider’s team discovers angry husbands, a self-proclaimed writer who wasn’t happy at rejection, and a boyfriend who might have wanted Wiseman dead. Even a few women, such as that elusive model that Carpenter wants off-limits, are possible suspects.
Headlong is an intricately plotted police procedural. It’s filled with puns, wordplay, and cop humor. It’s also filled with careful police work. Slider and his team of believable police detectives are likable. This is a witty, thoughtful mystery in which the police detectives come to life through the details of their personal and family lives. It’s a carefully constructed story that should appeal to Deborah Crombie’s readers. And, I have the first three in the series on order.
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles’ website is https://www.cynthiaharrodeagles.com
Headlong by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. Severn House, 2018. ISBN 9780727888365 (hardcover), 220p.
*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I received the book to review for a journal.
I'm so glad you discovered this series, Lesa. We've been reading them from the beginning – our friends in England introduced the series to us years ago – and I even had to buy some of them from England before they started to be more available here. If you start at the beginning, you'll follow his relationship with Joanna from first meeting, as well as Atherton's romantic complications over the years. Good series.
I hope to get the first three books this time, Jeff. I ordered them before Christmas. Amazon "said" they were delivered, but I never received them. Unfortunately, I was leaving for Ohio at the time, so I never went through the process of complaining. I just reordered yesterday.
Lesa, I hope you like this series as much as I do. I have read them all and reading from the beginning is really the way to go. The personal relationships of the denizens of the, what we would call a precinct are what makes the series so wonderful.
Enjoy.
I have the first three in the series on order, Netteanne. I have the feeling I'm going to enjoy them as much as you do!