Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Perils of the Night
Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Patricia Hall
Class/Genre: Mystery Police Procedural
Series: Laura Ackroyd & Michael Thackeray # 4
St. Martin's, Jan 1999, $22.95, 220 pp.
Bradford Gazette Editor Ted Grant assigns reporter Laura Ackroyd int obtaining insider information on the feud between the town's prostitutes and its new Asian residents. Laura dresses as a prostitute and begins by seemingly soliciting customers on the Yorkshire streets. She gathers interesting information from Sherry the prostitute just prior to being busted by the police.
Laura feels a bit mortified that her lover police chief Michael Thackeray sees her in her new role behind bars. However, her investigative juices quickly replace that queasy feeling when she learns that someone murdered a university student Louise Brownlee on her street corner that very night. Michael and Laura seek the truth behind the student-hooker murder, which may have been an act of a vigilante, an unhappy customer, or just a mindless murder.
What sets aside a Patricia Hall novel from the run of the mill English police procedural is the detail and depth to the characterizations. Though her who-done-its are well written, they are no better than most of the sub-genre entries. However, the brilliantly defined emotions, motivations, and interpersonal relationships propel the audience into non-stop reading until they finish the novel. This trademark of Ms. Hall is in abundance in her latest mystery, PERILS OF THE NIGHT. After perusing this novel, readers will want to obtain Ms. Hall's previous tales such as the Thackeray-Ackroyd tale, DEAD OF WINTER, which too is an entertaining story
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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