Cold Wrath

A simple, straightforward plot propels Turnbull’s curiously antiquated 25th mystery featuring Det. Chief Insp. George Hennessey and Det. Sgt. Somerled Yellich of the Micklegate Bar Police Station in York, England (after 2016’s A Dreadful Past). The two are called to the isolated country home of Anthony Garrett, near the little town of Millington-in-the-Vale. Garrett was found in the drawing room, shot neatly between the eyes. The only unusual occurrence in the deceased’s life was the arrival at his door, a few days before his death, of three almost identical blonde women. The time period is confusing. Were it not for references to CCTV cameras and DNA, the reader could be forgiven for placing it several decades ago. With no other investigations to occupy the detectives, the narrative is padded with digressions, from the origin of the word gob to musing on the names of prisons (“Leavenworth Prison in the USA... I always think [it] sounds like it ought to be an English country house”). This one’s strictly for series fans. (Apr.)