BLOOD IS THICKER

The first appearance of DS Matt Arnold, of Lambeth HQ, finds him awash with children in peril.

When his mum calls in little Ryan’s death, nobody imagines it’s a case of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. For one thing, beneath Ryan’s Spider-Man jammies are enough broken bones, bruises and contusions to suggest a demolition derby. The wall in his bedroom shows a dent precisely corresponding to the one in his head. And his dad is a violent man who kept the child locked in his room while his wife and Jake, her son from another marriage, cowered nearby. But dad’s alibi holds up and life goes on, as the other two kids in the family, legacies of dad’s former liaison, take pleasure in taunting Jake, mummy’s favorite. As Matt sorts through the domestic wreckage, his family is foundering. His son becomes a hit-and-run victim and lies comatose in hospital, threatening Matt’s marriage with death by grieving and recriminations. Matt’s two objectives—to find the hit-and-run driver and to determine who smashed poor Ryan to bits—are complicated by confessions that are recanted soon after they’re offered and by his own emotional upheaval.

Stolid prose and at least one villain recognizable at first appearance. Cox, a South London police officer for 26 years, is planning a sequel. Readers may wonder why.