Scratch Deeper

This run-of-the-mill first in a new crime series from Simms (Cut Adrift and five other Jon Spicer mysteries) introduces Det. Constable Iona Khan, recently promoted to the Greater Manchester Police Counter Terrorism Unit. In addition to putting up with hostility from her new colleagues, Iona must handle an undesirable assignment involving the Sub-Urban Explorers, a group dedicated to investigating the city’s many tunnels. An unidentified “lightly tanned gentleman” (i.e., a man who appears to be Middle Eastern) has approached the explorers about joining their group. He has expressed an interest in the area below Manchester’s main convention center, where the Labor Party is planning to hold a conference. Among those attending will be two former prime ministers—Tony Blair and Gordon Brown—along with Labor’s new leader and former U.S. president Bill Clinton. Will Iona be able to thwart a possible terrorist plot? Those expecting no surprises will be the least disappointed. (Mar.)