Death on Demand

Starred review from August 26, 2013
Ned Kelly Award–winner Thomas takes his time letting readers in on what he’s got up his sleeve in his fourth police procedural starring Maori Det. Sgt. Tito Ihaka (after 1996’s Guerilla Season), but the deferred gratification is well worth it. A prologue opens 14 years in the past in Greytown, New Zealand. Eight years later, four male friends, a property developer, a lawyer, a dentist, and a businessman, are enjoying a regular weekend away together on Waiheke Island. A discussion of marital discontent ends with a joke about using the phone directory to call a hit man. Three months later, Joyce, presumably the wife of one of the four pals, is fatally struck by a car while jogging in an Auckland suburb. More people die, one way or another, as the action moves to the present. Ihaka, who must deal with prejudice from within the force, investigates. A twisty plot and an unusual lead combine to make this a winner, and even newcomers will hope that the wait for the next installment will be less than 17 years.

Starred review from October 1, 2013

A husband's offhand remark about hiring a hit man loses its humor when someone offers to take care of the task. The Auckland, New Zealand, case was never solved, and only Maori DS Tito Ihaka suspected the moneyed husband. Ihaka's rough edges and zeal effectively doomed him, and six years ago, he was reassigned to the Wellington area. Now, new revelations indicate that Ihaka's instincts were right; he is brought back to reopen the cold case. Before long, things turn hot as a complicated case involving grifters and shifting identities means more victims will fall. VERDICT New Zealand's irascible cop Tito Ihaka has been MIA since Thomas's last series entry in 1996 (Guerilla Season), and his return pleases on so many levels. Thomas is a past winner of the Ned Kelly Award, and this one looks to be a future nominee as well.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2013
Auckland, New Zealand, detective Tito Ihaka is a Maori. He is also overweight, unkempt, loud-mouthed, and incorruptible. He has definite issues with authority, which is why he finds himself banished to a precinct in the wilderness. Then he's called back to Auckland to follow up on the case that got him in hot water. To further complicate matters, Ihaka becomes involved with an attractive female suspect who may have the answers he needs. Thomas combines an appealing nonconformist investigator, an exotic locale, and an insightful exploration of the relationships between cops and criminals. The humor and arch dialogue add to the fun.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)