William Shaw has already received rave reviews for his first novel featuring DS Alexandra Cupidi of the Kent Serious Crime Directorate, and this follow-up is another winner. He deals with contemporary crime situations in a highly individual and intelligent way. His technique is to dodge between his various groups of characters at a fast pace, which is occasionally frustrating, but always exciting.
His opening chapter deals with the exploits of two delinquent local lads, who have decided it would be a good idea to snatch mobile phones with the aid of a stolen scooter. One white, one black; this duo have remained loyal friends throughout their chequered school careers. They find a good location for their planned thefts - outside a railway station, and wait for a train to come in. They soon see an ordinary-looking man with an expensive mobile to his ear. He puts the phone back in a small bag. They zoom into action, grab the bag, and make their escape. When they open the bag, they find two mobile phones, an expensive one, and also a very cheap one.
They think their Uncle Mikey, ex-Navy and a tad ‘shady’, might be able to sell it for them. When they give him the bag, a message comes up saying that if they give back everything they stole, there will be a £5,000 reward and no questions asked, followed by a return phone number. Uncle Mikey arranges a rendezvous, and goes off with the bag, promising to give the boys half the reward.
The story then switches to a local art gallery, where a member of staff (a dissatisfied local artist, Ross Clough) is complaining that none of the local fashionable galleries are interested in his work.
Then, at last, we meet DS Alexandra Cupidi in her home on the marshes at Dungeness. She is waiting for her neighbour (of sorts), William South a lifelong friend who nevertheless has been imprisoned for being a corrupt police officer and the manslaughter of his own father, to arrive at his home. She is also worrying about her daughter, Zoe, who has delinquent and mentally disturbed tendencies. Then she receives a work call about a dismembered arm being found in an urn which is an exhibit in an art exhibition which is about to open to the public, and so hangs this dark tale.
So, this extremely complicated plot takes off, and does so to from a dark narrative, set in Kent - until finally all the threads are pulled together in some very exciting final chapters and a startling dénouement.
I can't wait for the next in the series.
