Fatal Quest

Starred review from October 15, 2008
Retiring Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend (Dying Fall, 2008, etc.) reminisces about his first case: the murder of a black teenager that no one wanted solved.

As they wait in the buffet of the Whitebridge railway station for the train that will take him on the first leg of his journey to retirement in Spain, Woodend tells his protge Monika Paniatowski about the first case he solved in London. When they demob at the end of World War II, his commanding officer, Major Cathcart, recommends the young sergeant to the Metropolitan Police Force. Soon, Lancaster-bred Woodend is in an office overlooking Victoria Embankment under the command of DCI Bentley. Too lazy to view a dead body, he sends Woodend to investigate the slashing of 16-year-old Pearl Jones, of African descent, who lived in downbeat Canning Town but studied at a poncy prep school thanks to a scholarship from the mysterious Meadows Trust. Everyone warns Woodend off the case, from the constable whose rude description of the body sickens him, to shady pub owner Greyhound Ron Smithers, who sends a couple of hard boys to persuade him to ease off, to the mysterious voice on the phone warning that "somefink very nasty could ' appen " if he keeps on. But keep on he does, the first step in nearly a quarter-century of flouting authority and solving crime.

Woodend fans should cherish this finale, which rounds out the professional career of Lancaster's favorite subversive while paving the way for further adventures on the sunny Mediterranean.

(COPYRIGHT (2008) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 1, 2008
Its 1973, and DCI Charlie Woodend is due to retire, with his long-time colleague Monika Paniatowski set to take over his job. As they drink a last pint before Woodend leaves for good, he agrees to tell Monika about his first case, the one that made him sure he wanted to be a copper. Twenty years earlier, when Woodend was a new police recruit, he was called out to investigate the brutal murder of a black teenager. Appalled by the cruelty of the crime, Woodend vows to find the girls killer. But because she was just a little colored girl (this was, after all, 1950), his superiors rule the case low priority and seem unusually upset when Woodend decides to investigate on his own. As always, Spencer offers up a clever plot, highly skilled writing, deft touches of ironic humor, and consummate characterizations, resulting in another fine entry in this strong procedural series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)