Merely Players

March 28, 2011
Gregson's solid 15th mystery featuring North Lancashire's irreverent but effective Percy Peach (after 2010's Only a Game) focuses on the obnoxious Adam Cassidy, a mediocre actor in a hit TV action series, whose rapid rise only enhances his narcissistic tendencies. Meanwhile, Det. Chief Insp. Percy Peach maneuvers to outflank his stodgy boss, Chief Supt. Thomas Tucker, so that he can continue to operate in his own way. Even before the book's main eventâa fatal shooting that Peach must solve under a national spotlightâthe two story lines intersect when Tucker and Cassidy appear together on a talk show. The gradual buildup to the crime may be too slow for some, but the lively prose and deft character portrayals make the wait a pleasant one. Gregson doesn't play completely fair, but as a procedural featuring a maverick lead who's a kindred spirit to Peter Lovesey's Peter Diamond, it certainly succeeds.

April 15, 2011

The murder of a TV actor leaves too many suspects and too few clues to suit DCI Percy Peach (Wild Justice, 2009, etc.).

A drop in the crime rate should be just the thing for Brunton CIS's Percy Peach. It would give him time to revel in his blissful new marriage to his comely ex-sergeant, the former Lucy Blake. But the lack of any real wrongdoing to investigate gives Peach's superintendent, Tommy "Bloody" Tucker, the notion that Percy is just the man to help him negotiate the tension between the National Front and Brunton's Asian population. Percy hates PR. What he wants is a nice juicy murder. And he gets his wish: Adam Cassidy, who stars in the wildly popular teledrama Call Alec Dawson, is found shot to death in his BMW off the A666. No question who hated Adam. He cheated on his wife Jane, blackballed his mentor Dean Morley from a recurring role on the show and did the same for Michelle Davies, even after bedding her. He canned his agent, Tony Valento, who's connected enough to hire a hit man. And his brother Luke, who takes care of their aged father Harry, was frustrated with Adam's neglect of the old man, the one person who idolized him. So there's motive aplenty—but who had the means? That's just what Peach and his new bagman, DS Clyde Northcott, mean to find out.

Another meat-and-potatoes procedural from the reliable Gregson.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

May 1, 2011

DCI Peach (Wild Justice) digs in when things turn deadly with a TV actor's ruthless ambitions.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2011
The irrepressible Percy Peach is back, this time as a blissful married man, having finally tied the knot with his longtime love, Detective Sergeant Lucy Blake. Now forced to solve cases without Lucy as his sidekick, Percy finds the adjustment difficult, especially when hes assigned the high-profile murder of television star Adam Cassidy. Of course, Percys boss, master of the bleedin, blindin obvious, Chief Superintendent Thomas Bulstrode Tucker, wants the case solved yesterday, but its obviously not that easy. There are numerous suspects who could have wanted Cassidy dead, including the actors hes cheated out of continuing roles in his series, the agent he just fired, his long-suffering wife, and his latest amour. Theres a bit less of the irreverent badinage between Peach and Tucker, a reduced role for Lucy, and not quite as much wry wit as in previous Percy Peach books, but this is still a cleverly plotted police procedural with plenty of unexpected twists and engaging characters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

April 15, 2011

The murder of a TV actor leaves too many suspects and too few clues to suit DCI Percy Peach (Wild Justice, 2009, etc.).

A drop in the crime rate should be just the thing for Brunton CIS's Percy Peach. It would give him time to revel in his blissful new marriage to his comely ex-sergeant, the former Lucy Blake. But the lack of any real wrongdoing to investigate gives Peach's superintendent, Tommy "Bloody" Tucker, the notion that Percy is just the man to help him negotiate the tension between the National Front and Brunton's Asian population. Percy hates PR. What he wants is a nice juicy murder. And he gets his wish: Adam Cassidy, who stars in the wildly popular teledrama Call Alec Dawson, is found shot to death in his BMW off the A666. No question who hated Adam. He cheated on his wife Jane, blackballed his mentor Dean Morley from a recurring role on the show and did the same for Michelle Davies, even after bedding her. He canned his agent, Tony Valento, who's connected enough to hire a hit man. And his brother Luke, who takes care of their aged father Harry, was frustrated with Adam's neglect of the old man, the one person who idolized him. So there's motive aplenty--but who had the means? That's just what Peach and his new bagman, DS Clyde Northcott, mean to find out.

Another meat-and-potatoes procedural from the reliable Gregson.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)