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sandin954's review
2.0
An English Police procedural that was decently plotted with many tidbits about the business of the music industry in England but the characters were a little flat and the pacing a bit slow.
verityw's review
4.0
This is the second (although it was written first) in the Inspector Christy Campbell mysteries - set in and around Camden in the mid 90s (and written at the time) which follow the Inspector as he solves murders and tries to negotiate his relationship with ann rea (her capitalisation). It's delightful - although a little bit disturbing - to see 90s London in a book and realise how much everything has changed. This is a period piece in its own way but no less enjoyable for that.
rosseroo's review
4.0
This is a pretty solid debut police procedural with both feet firmly set in the Camden Town area of London. Much like John Havey's Charley Resnick series, the reader follows the professional and personal travails of D.I. Christy Kennedy as he solves a few murders and feels his way though a relationship. Kennedy is decidedly less troubled and dark than Resnick, however. The central case is the murder of the head of a local independent record label who has recently sold out to a major for big money. There's some sort of music insider stuff mixed in, but none of it particularly enthralling in and of itself. It's more fun to watch Kennedy trawl the past and present of the Irish promoter to track down the killer. It moves pretty smoothly, although it'd be nice if Charles managed to make his chapters a tad bit longer (60 chapters over 240 pages = 4 page chapters!), as all the breaks get rather intrusive. His love of music gets the better of him with the rather silly inclusion of song lyrics at the beginning of each chapter (the book's title is that of a Nick Lowe song). These minor annoyances and few bits of a sloppy prose aside, it's a good beginning and I'll definitely look for the next in the series.
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