Instinct

March 26, 2012
Oldham’s solid 17th Henry Christie mystery (after 2011’s Facing Justice) finds the Lancashire detective superintendent living with his 23-year-old daughter and a new love interest way too soon in his mind after the death of his wife—even though, during their rocky time together, Henry had enjoyed other love affairs. Amid this emotional turmoil, Henry looks into the brutal murder of college student Natalie Philips. While the most obvious suspect is her boyfriend, Natalie had taken a recent shine to characters more generally profiled as Islamic terrorists. Henry’s friend of a dozen years, former FBI man Karl Donaldson, works the terrorist angle. The complex plot thickens as investigations lead to a one-time narcotics detective out of Blackpool, Steve Flynn, whom Henry had drummed out of the force, as well as constable and sex offender Paul Driver, who comes out of nowhere to make a startling confession. Despite the muted tone, Oldham keeps readers on edge through the local and international mayhem.

May 1, 2012
A terrorist hunt collides with a homicidal rapist's spree. Blackpool Detective Supt. Henry Christie is surveying the crime scene of a raped and murdered teenager when he witnesses the duly warranted shooting of a suspected terrorist sought by MI5, MI6, SIS, Special Branch, Counter Terrorism and his old pal Karl Donaldson, a supersleuth doing undercover work as a legate at the American embassy. While the agencies bicker over which has jurisdiction, another suspected terrorist is collared with bombs strapped to his chest and a detonator in his hand. Does that account for everyone? Donaldson thinks he winged another perp, slowing but not stopping his getaway. Blood droplets and airport security identify him as Jamil Akram, who runs terrorist camps in Yemen, instructs aspiring suicide bombers, and plans events for maximum public outrage and fear. Jamil hustles himself to Gambia, where Boone, a semi-retired smuggler, eventually realizes that the man he's agreed to pick up is worth a lot more than the sum he agreed on. His blackmail buys him a gruesome, watery grave, the brutalization of his girlfriend Michelle and a spot of vengeance engineered by his drinking buddy Steve Flynn, an ex-cop in Christie's squad who now takes on fishing charters. Meanwhile, Christie learns that one of the four different sperm deposits in his teenage victim matches Jamil's DNA. As Christie, Donaldson and Flynn (Facing Justice, 2011, etc.) share information, skullduggery most British comes into play, with more deaths and a cover-up in the offing. Nobody makes coincidences seem as likely or as deadly as Oldham, who tempers all this mayhem with a new romantic entanglement for recent widower Christie, but also staves off his retirement with the adrenaline rush of the chase.

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April 1, 2012
Oldham gives readers his usual action-packed procedural featuring supercop Henry Christie. Not that Christie is perfectfar from it. He's grumpy, opinionated, short-tempered, and happy to operate outside the law when necessary, all of which do nothing to endear him to his superiors or his colleagues. But his solve rate is outstanding, and so he's always managed to keep his job, albeit by his fingernails. However, following the tragic death of his wife and after years on the force, Christie is considering retiring. Before he can take this shocking step, though, there's one last murder to solvethat of teenager Natalie Philips.The investigation uncovers a possible terrorist attack on a local amusement park, leads to a young delinquent and a serial rapist, and occasions the reappearance of two old Christie pals, an FBI agent and a former cop convicted of corruption. Unexpected twists, a multifaceted plot, multiple subplots, and even a bit of romance add to the appeal of Oldham's latest.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)