Under a Silent Moon

February 3, 2014
Bestseller Haynes (Human Remains) ventures into new territory with mixed results in her fourth crime novel. In the English village of Morden, Det. Chief Insp. Louisa “Lou” Smith leads the Major Crimes team, which is looking into the bludgeoning death of groom Polly Leuchars and the subsequent suspicious death of Polly’s neighbor, Barbara Fletcher-Norman. The officers and analysts of “Op Nettle” (the name Ops Planning assigns the Leuchars murder case) uncover a trail of connections and motivations, including sexual entanglements among the suspects and police force. While most of the police procedural elements are strong (Haynes, a police intelligence analyst, provides faux Major Crimes case diagrams in an appendix), she’s less sure in her depictions of various emotional and physical relationships. A parallel investigation into one suspect’s long-term criminal activities is promising, but lacks a satisfactory resolution. Agent: Adrian Weston, Adrian Weston Literary Agency.

April 1, 2014

Newly promoted DCI Louisa Smith's first case is a doozy--the brutal murder of Polly Leuchars in a posh village outside London. When a second body is discovered, a victim of a supposed suicide, Lou and her team hope for a quick solution of what they presume to be a case of a murder/suicide. As the team uncovers more evidence, they find that the answer is more complicated than first appears. Polly had occupied many beds and broken many hearts, so untangling the complex web of friends, lovers, and neighbors takes some time. As Lou tries to sort out the messiness of Polly's life, she faces complications in her own love life. Andy Hamilton, the DI assigned to her case, is also Lou's former lover. Despite being burned by her involvement with Andy, Lou is attracted to Jason Mercer, the police intelligence analyst. VERDICT Haynes (Into the Darkest Corner), a police intelligence analyst herself, weaves witness statements, phone records, and software information used by real police investigations into this dark tale of murder, sex, and lies. The first in a projected series is perfect for fans of police procedurals and British mysteries. [See Prepub Alert, 10/20/13.]--Lynnanne Pearson, Skokie P.L., IL

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2014
Murder and sexual intrigue rock a small British village. The day after Halloween, the Briarstone police receive a hysterical phone call from Felicity Maitland, a farm owner in the village of Morden. She's found Polly Leuchars, a young family friend working as a stable groom, bloodied and lifeless in the cottage on the Maitland property. DCI Louisa "Lou" Smith of Major Crimes, who has the lead in the murder investigation, is dismayed when Andy Hamilton is put on the case too. She and Andy have had a brief liaison, and now she's uncomfortable around him and ambivalent about the polite overtures of senior analyst Jason Mercer. But Lou doesn't have much time to think about either man. The body of the Maitlands' neighbor Barbara Fletcher-Norman is found in a car that went over a quarry cliff. Even though Polly might have had an affair with Barbara's husband, Barbara's implication in Polly's murder seems a little too convenient. After all, Polly seems to have had affairs with half the villagers, including Felicity Maitland's daughter, Flora, and a shadowy, sexually compelling lover for whom Polly threw Flora over. Although Jason is on hand to provide more than analytical support, Lou can't fully take him up on his offer while she's pursuing a murder, a possible suicide and illegal business dealings. An open ending suggests a sequel for Lou and a consummated romance, although readers who've been hooked by the buildup might feel cheated of a stronger resolution this time. Police analyst Haynes (Into the Darkest Corner, 2013, etc.) includes official-looking documents and reports to add veracity to the dual cases, which would have been just as convincing and considerably peppier without the impersonal police blotterese.

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March 1, 2014
On the same day that Polly Leuchars is bludgeoned to death in a village near London, her neighbor Barbara Fletcher-Norman is found dead in a car that went over a nearby cliff. Forensics link the two cases into a single operation, the first investigation to be headed by newly promoted Detective Chief Inspector Louisa Lou Smith of Major Crimes. Beautiful, blonde, 27-year-old Polly, a groom at the horse farm owned by wealthy, crime-connected Nigel Maitland, started sexual relationships casually with both men and women (among them Maitland, his daughter Flora, and Fletcher-Norman's widower), spurning the commitment that some of her lovers sought. While a quick and simple solution to the case presents itself early on, Smith and her team keep digging, despite her discomfort at working closely with DC Andy Hamilton, with whom she had a prepromotion fling. After three stand-alone novelsthe latest being the suspenseful Human Remains, 2013real-life police analyst Haynes debuts a promising procedural series featuring a strong lead character who could just become a genre stalwart.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)