The type of mystery that I enjoy most is the police procedural. January was a good month for me as two of my favourite authors had new titles, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles’ 21st Bill Slider mystery, Headlong, and Quintin Jardine’s Cold Case, the 30th Bob Skinner mystery. These came hard on the heels of Susan Hill’s long awaited 9th Simon Serailler title, The Comforts of Home. I thought this might be a good time to introduce some of the newer writers of this genre.
Robert Bryndza, has a series which revolves around Det. Erika Forrester. Forrester has just been transferred back to London following a case which went disastrously wrong and resulted in the death of her husband who was also a member of the police force. The Girl in the Ice, is the first title in the series, the body of a young socialite has been discovered frozen in a pond in a park. This is a challenging case exacerbated by the pressures of the well connected family of the victim.
M.J. Arlidge writes about Detective Inspector Helen Grace. We are first introduced to the character in Eeny Meeny. The series is a little on the dark side for me but it has been a very well received.
The Deaths of December, is the first in D.C. Becky Greene series by Susi Holliday. The plot revolves around an Advent Calendar which is dropped off at the police station. No one takes any notice of this until Becky takes a closer look at the calendar and realises that it is connected to a murder that has occurred and that also it may be a portent of murders to come.
Elly Griffiths has a new book coming out in March called the Stranger Diaries. While described by the publisher as a contemporary Gothic thriller it is also a police procedural. The lead female detective is a strong and interesting character who struggles with balancing her professional life and her life as a daughter who lives with her more traditional East Indian parents. I think that this is the most interesting character that I have read about in the last few months.