Make Them Pay

February 11, 2013
In Ison’s methodical 12th police procedural featuring Det. Chief Insp. Harry Brock and Det. Sgt. Dave Poole (after 2012’s Gunrunner), the London detectives tackle triple murders whose effects are felt in Germany, France, the U.S., and the Bahamas. The torture killing of Nigerian Samson Adekunle, followed by the execution-style slayings of a German man and woman all land on Brock’s desk. Discovering the identity of the Germans, whose bodies were badly burned, is accomplished with the help of German policeman Horst Fischer, who also links the two—Hans Eberhardt and Trudi Schmidt—to a major stock fraud operation. Finding and investigating Eberhardt and Schmidt’s victims and the victims’ kin eventually leads to further overseas connections and complications. The highly competent Brock deals with his officious, budget-conscious commander, makes frequent references to how real police work differs from TV dramas, and leads his team to a successful, if unsurprising, conclusion.

March 1, 2013
DCI Harry Brock (Gunrunner, 2011, etc.) eats, drinks and makes merry while investigating the murder of three con artists. Since the van set alight in Richmond has German plates, Brock calls Kriminalhauptkommissar Horst Fischer of the Essen police to help identify the two charred bodies inside. Hans Eberhardt and Trudi Schmidt turn out to be grifters who specialized in selling shares in phony companies to pensioners. Their co-conspirator, Nigerian Samson Adekunle, also turns up dead with a letter of reference from a New York real estate agent in his Clancy Street apartment. So Brock and his sergeant, Dave Poole, seize the opportunity to visit Joe Daly at the U.S. Embassy. Unfortunately, instead of the T-bone steak rumored to be on offer, all they get is some Scotch and the opportunity to watch the diplomat verbally abuse his secretary ("Darlene, just hightail your sweet little butt in here one second.") Daly doesn't know squat about Adekunle or his scam. When the investigation stalls, Brock and Poole travel to Essen, where they drink beer, watch Fischer smack barmaids playfully on the rump and view pornographic movies starring Trudi Schmidt. More stalling. Brock contemplates a trip to the Bahamas to trace the loot Adekunle stashed there but settles for watching his girlfriend, Gail Sutton, and her pal Charlotte Hunter romp topless in the pool. Eventually, a witness offers a random bit of information that helps Brock crack the case and settle down with "a well-deserved glass of ale." Brock and Poole's latest outing makes you want to phone Inland Revenue and complain.

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February 15, 2013
DCI Harry Brock and his sidekick, DS Dave Poole, have a tricky case on their hands. It looks as if the pair of bodies in an abandoned van could be connected with a vast swindle involving forged corporate share certificates originating in Germany. It appears the dead man and woman were involved in the scheme, but, as Brock and Poole well know, just because a murder victim might have been a criminal doesn't mean you don't have to bring the killer to justice. The Brock and Poole novels are mainstream police procedurals, and while this one's story might have benefited from a little more narrative flexibilty, the author mainly sticks with the procedural format. That's hardly a criticism, though, for a series that does what it does so well, and, as always, Ison peppers the book with humor and witty banter. Another solid entry in this increasingly popular series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)