BROTHERS' TEARS

Two murders within a week pose a formidable puzzle for Brunton CID’s most irreverent DCI, Percy Peach (Least of Evils, 2012, etc.).

When Jim O’Connor is killed in the parking lot of Claughton Towers during a celebratory dinner, there are almost too many suspects. His wife clearly hated him. He had a finger in every dirty pie in Brunton, including a ring of Asian thugs who snatched vulnerable girls from council care homes and forced them into prostitution. And his past as an Ireland rugby player left him in the cross hairs of some unwilling to abide by the IRA’s ban on violence. His brother Dominic’s death a few days later only deepens the puzzle. Jim’s shady connections had no gripe with his law-abiding brother. But Dom had family issues of his own, including a wife who likes to fool around and her devoted lover. The problem is that those with the strongest motives for dispatching one brother have nothing particular against the other. As Percy Peach works his dogged path through this briar patch, he can’t resist casting the occasional barb at his boss, Superintendent Thomas Bulstrode Tucker, who prefers to give his overview of the case from the comfort of his office. But needling Tucker won’t solve the case. For that, Peach will need persistence, ingenuity and the help of his bagman, DS Clyde Northcott.

Another solid outing for Gregson and the indomitable Peach.