Light fantastic

Who better to write a cracking police procedural than a former member of Scotland Yard's Special Branch? Ison uses his experience to great advantage in his latest book featuring Detective Inspector Harry Brock and his loyal sidekick, Detective Sergeant Dave Poole. The duo is called on to investigate a double murder in one of London's most upscale areas. Two victims have been shot at close range in a Hampstead townhouse, and the police initially assume the victims are the home owners, prosperous lawyer Andrew Light and his wife,im. But it turns out that Light is away on a business trip, so Brock and Poole have the doubly difficult task of finding both the identity of the second victim and that of the killer. Their investigation takes them far from tony Hampstead into a dark criminal underworld filled with prostitution, sex clubs, and drug smuggling. A well-written police procedural that shows just how tough being a copper really is. --Emily Melton Copyright 2003 Booklist

Detective Chief Inspector Brock and Detective Sergeant Poole investigate a double murder in high-toned Hampstead that has roots in seamy Soho. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Passion ignites murder and bares sordid secrets in a posh London neighborhood. Though he'd never admit it, DCI Brock may be dazzled at first by the imposing house belonging to Kim and Andrew Light--as do a pair of corpses, Brock summarily concludes, an assumption he hastily corrects when Andrew suddenly materializes, returning not from the grave but from a business trip. The body in his bed, clad in a dressing gown, belongs to a certain enigmatic Duncan Ford, who seems to have been Mrs. Light's lover. But wait: It turns out that Mrs. Light--also known as Kim Scott, or simply as Gloria, when she slithered starkers around a greased pole in a Soho lap dancing club--is not Mrs. Light, never having participated in any of obligatory legalities. Clearly, there's a lot to sort out, and it gets much worse before Brock and his hard-working coppers can unscramble a perplexing whodunit. Still, with a little help from their snouts and a couple of cooperative toms, plus at least one key set of tabs (snitches, whores, fingerprints) the stalwarts of the Serious Crime Group put the right bloke in the nick. Another solid police procedural from Ison (Working Girl, 2002, etc.), long on authenticity if a bit short on nuance. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.