Darkness, Darkness

Starred review from July 14, 2014
Diamond Dagger Award–winner Harvey’s elegiac 12th Charlie Resnick novel (after 2008’s Cold in Hand) will be the final one, according to his afterword. The destruction of an old apartment terrace in the Nottinghamshire village of Bledwell Vale, in England’s coal-mining country, reveals a human skeleton. Dental records identify the remains as those of Jenny Hardwick, missing since 1984. An outspoken advocate for the miners, Jenny was the wife of a scab, one of the men who crossed the picket lines to keep providing for their families. Det. Insp. Catherine Njoroge takes charge of the investigation, and recruits Res­nick, who has been working as civilian investigator on cold cases, since he has first-hand experience of the divisive, violent miner’s strike of the mid-1980s. The hunt for Jenny’s killer runs in parallel to the scenes from the strike in this ambitious narrative, and the reader is also given a shocking glimpse into Catherine’s troubled domestic life. Some readers may find the Thatcher-era politics a slog, but the excellent writing, strong characterizations, and the genial, jazz-loving Resnick make this a suitable conclusion for Harvey’s fictional creation. Agent: Sarah Lutyens, Lutyens & Rubinstein (U.K.).

Narrator Mike Grady delivers the twelfth, and noted by Harvey as final, Charlie Resnick mystery. This time the brooding, jazz-loving Nottingham detective must solve a decades-old murder that took place during the 1980s British national coal strike. Resnick has a new companion and boss, DI Catherine Njoroge. The mystery requires him to delve into his own police work during the long-ago strike. Grady does an outstanding job with the North Country and Midland accents the characters require. He makes Yorkshire and Nottingham dialects distinguishable, even to Americans. He's also a master at making the book's dialogue seem natural. At the same time, he conjures the world-weariness that Harvey's detective exudes as he uncovers, once again, the darkness in the human soul. F.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine