Book Review: The Hard Detective

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Hard Detective     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
H. R. F. Keating
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural   Woman Main Character
Series: Harriet Martens # 1
St. Martin’s, May 2000, $21.95, 240 pp.

Her loathing of criminals is so intense that the criminal element calls her THE HARD DETECTIVE. Deputy Chief Inspector Harriet Martenns is in charge of the “Stop the Rot” campaign designed to get all criminals, even those committing petty crimes off the streets. She carries out her assignment with a zeal that at times can be frightening. The criminal element in Great Birchester despises Harriet to the point they begin to harass her in petty ways which include putting dog doodoo into her mail slot. When an officer under her command is killed, Harriet wants to hunt down the culprit, but her superiors assign the task to her rival Deputy Superintendent Froggot.

After a second officer dies, Harriet informs Froggot that she sees a connection between the two murders, but he dismisses her theory as nonsense and tells her to butt out of his investigation. However, when Froggot dies next, everyone agrees a serial killer is on the rampage, targeting members of the police force. Harriet receives a promotion and is placed in charge of the cop killing investigation. In spite of her best efforts, the killer keeps succeeding in murdering cops, making a desperate force wonder who will be next.

THE HARD DETECTIVE is not an easy character to like because Harriet expects perfection at all costs, which make her seem unbearable and intolerant. Superintendent Martens behaves more like a crime fighting caricature than a human being. Though the serial killer story line will hold interest of die-hard sub-genre fans, other readers will prefer some of the marvelous other works by H.R.F. Keating.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner