Night Fall: A DCI Neil Paget Mystery

In British author Smith’s winning 10th mystery featuring Det. Chief Insp. Neil Paget (after 2012’s In the Shadow of Evil), Paget must contend with a new boss, Det. Supt. Amanda Pierce, with whom he has a bitter personal history. He must also try to uncover who was behind the brutal murder of innocuous photographer Billy Travis. Travis’s death is the first of a string of murders that rocks the Shropshire town of Broadminster. As the number of victims mounts—each is bound, marked with a crudely carved “A,” and tossed to his or her death from a height—Paget and his crew strive to find a connection between the crimes. Pierce urges the overworked Paget to rely more on capable Det. Sgt. John Tregalles and newly promoted Det. Sgt. Molly Forsythe. Dealing with grieving relatives, jaundiced views of police, tenuous clues, and increasing administrative pressure, Paget and Pierce achieve a functioning détente in this smoothly plotted, well-written procedural. (July)