Cold Case: A Maurice Mundy Mystery

Maurice Mundy, the 55-year-old hero of this solid series launch from Turnbull (A Dreadful Past and 23 other Hennessy and Yellich mysteries), has recently retired as a detective constable from London’s Metropolitan Police. In order to keep his hand in and add a bit of income to boost his insufficient pension, he has joined Scotland Yard’s Cold Case Review Team. The reason why Mundy never rose in the ranks and was thus unable to slip into a comfortable retirement soon becomes clear: his desire to see justice done, no matter whose toes he steps on. His brief at CCRT is simple: stick to the cold cases and stay out of the way of “proper coppers.” Assigned to re-examine the murder of a 12-year-old boy, Mundy quickly finds a possible link between the child’s death and a case currently being handled by the Essex Police. A melancholy man, Mundy gets his clothes from charity shops and lives on frozen pizza, but his wistfully dogged idealism makes him highly engaging. Readers will look forward to watching his life unfold in future installments. (Apr.)