Death Watch

January 15, 2008
A 13-year-old girl goes missing, and Detective Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend's team is in charge of the search. Like Jo Bannister, Spencer spins a great yarn about a professional police team solving crimes and dealing with their own personal problems. This is one of the best British series around.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2007
Chief Inspector Charlie Woodends latest casethe abduction of a 13-year-old girlbrings an overwhelming sense of d'j vu. Twenty years ago, Woodend investigated another kidnapping, but despite his best efforts, the young victims mutilated, violated body was eventually dragged from the Thames. Charlie has never forgiven himself, so solving the current case takes on added significance. With the help of his sidekicks, Sergeant Monika Paniatowski and Inspector Bob Rutter, Charlie pulls out all the stops to find the child, but the result is the same as before: the child is found dead. This time Charlieis taken off the case and demoted to a desk job. Seven months later, there is another kidnapping of a teenage girl, and even though Woodend has no authority, he launches his own investigation. Spencer offers up a cracking good British police procedural with a plot thats darker than her usual fare and a maverick cop in the John Rebus mold who, despite his flaws and a career that endlessly teeters on the brink of disaster, is as likable as anyone in the genre.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)