I look forward to the annual appearance of another entry in this long-running and highly enjoyable series. These books are police procedurals mixed with mysteries from the past, packed with red herrings, plot twists and likeable characters. There is nothing else quite like them. They manage to convey a sense of menace without resorting to the supernatural, and like all good series, part of the enjoyment is seeing what the characters have been up to.

Wesley has to juggle the various cases while fielding the problems of a woman from an earlier case, and working out who is menacing his family with phone calls and threats. The plot strands start disparate, but slowly begin to mesh together. The pace quickens as the detectives race to discover whodunit and avoid further victims. I continue to applaud the author’s accurate portrayal of contemporary Devon with its unique delights and problems, and never fail to be impressed just how much content there is in one of these novels. Twenty-two books and still going strong, this is one of my own favorite mystery series and highly recommended.