Psycho Alley

Starred review from August 1, 2006
DCI Henry Christie is a hard-drinking womanizer and a loner not averse to breaking rules--or heads--if doing so helps solve cases. He also has one of the highest solve rates on the force. His jealous boss would love to get rid of this unwelcome renegade and figures if he gives him the worst cases, Henry will either fail or resign. It hasn't worked so far, but maybe this latest case will do the trick. Following a series of brutal abductions, the perp has gone a step further and killed his nine-year-old victim. When Henry's chief suspect is found dead, and another child is kidnapped, Henry knows he is facing a race against time. Employing every legal technique he knows (and a few illegal ones), Henry closes the case but not before a terrifying confrontation with an old nemesis. Oldham takes the taut pacing, gripping suspense, and hard-edged plotting that readers have come to expect from the best British procedurals and adds a fresh twist: a corrupt antihero who is nevertheless undeniably appealing. A touch of James Ellroy thrown into a John Harvey-style procedural makes a powerful combination.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)