posted on 23 Jan 2017

A Good Death by Chris Collett

I always look forward to the next gripping instalment in this Birmingham based detective series and this was another page turner. I know that this author writes from an informed perspective because she has worked as an advisory teacher and lecturer with children, young people and families of all shapes and sizes and she uses this personal experience to make sure that her cast of characters is wide and come from a variety of familiar backgrounds.  This story is therefore packed with an interesting and authentic cast of people that include members of a Yemeni family who run a local community advice centre, a wealthy property developer and a university lecturer who is caring for an elderly invalid husband.

All these are eclipsed by the complicated life of the central protagonist, Detective Chief Inspector Tom Mariner. I have come to know him very well over the years and feel that he has become more rounded, sensitive and pleasingly self –deprecatory with each book. For instance, he is a rather reluctant manager who prefers to be involved in frontline police action. If I was a police officer (highly unlikely for many reasons), l would definitely like him as my line manager because he is so kind and thoughtful. He also juggles a difficult personal relationship that includes some sexual anxieties with his equally understanding partner, Suzy who is an academic and moves in a very different world of work. One of his on- going personal issues includes responsibility for Jamie, the brother of a deceased ex- girlfriend who is on the autistic spectrum and now lives in residential care. Jamie has been a significant minor character in all the books in the series and is deliberately placed to give the message that caring for people with such disabilities can present different challenges for families as they grow older. Mariner is always worrying about his well- being and as he is now middle aged,  is particularly concerned at his apparent decline in health  that therefore means fitting in visits and hospital appointments into his busy schedule – just like real life for most people who have to balance the demands of work and home.

However, at heart this is a procedural detective novel and Collett does this very convincingly based on meticulous research with people who know all about police investigations. So the leading narrative thread provides detail about how the suspected arson attack on the Shah family home, resulting in the death of the grandfather, is processed by the Fire Investigation Unit. The police team work with them to puzzle out the motivation for this crime which seems to be related to earlier racist attacks by a disreputable gang of youths. When the remains of a second body of a young woman are discovered in the fire damage, the plot thickens and suspicion then shifts to a man who has recently been humiliated by the marriage refusal of this same young woman, who turns out to be a cousin who has been staying with the Shah family. More mysterious twists and turns follow so I am not giving away any more about how this crime is eventually solved here.

A parallel investigation is the suspicious disappearance of Sam, a young man who has vanished two weeks before his marriage to the daughter of the wealthy property owner. It seems that the couple were very happy and planning to live in their luxurious new home, currently being refurbished with money and expertise from his doting father- in –law to be. At first it seems that Sam might have just got cold feet and perhaps run away with the mysterious ‘Little Bear’ whose signed Valentine card is discovered when they search his flat. However the police soon dig beneath the surface of his life to find some concerning anomalies

As with all good novels in the genre there are plenty of red herrings and some surprises along the way and a few unlikely co incidences to tie the different storylines together at the end. All this is done with panache and written by someone who takes great care with vocabulary and style. Because of this, one does not need to be familiar with the earlier novels in the series to enjoy reading this one.  On the other hand, a new reader might also be inspired to read the back story of the very likeable Tom Mariner and learn how he and some of his colleagues have evolved to be such a successful police team.        

Karen Argent

January 2017