Ash & Bone [Paperback]

A police procedural with several simultaneously unfolding plot lines, Ash and Bone is full of twists and turns, surprises and shocks, certain to keep mystery lovers reading well into the night. Complex and well developed, it features almost forty characters--police, crooks, and police who may be crooks, along with their lovers and families. Ostensibly "a Frank Elder mystery," Elder himself does not play a major role at the beginning of the novel. Instead the focus is on Maddy Birch, a detective sergeant in Serious and Organized Crime, who is on a bust with Paul Draper, a young detective constable, trying to apprehend James William Grant, a man accused of armed robbery, money laundering, drug dealing, and extortion, when things go very wrong.

Detective Inspector Frank Elder, retired from the Nottinghamshire force and now living the life of a semi-recluse in Cornish, is persuaded to help in the internal investigation of Grant's death. Maddy Birch is someone he has known for years and has cared about. Separated from his wife for several years, Elder blames himself, in part, for his daughter's abduction, rape, and violent assault when she was in her early teens. As Frank tries to reconnect with this estranged daughter, he is, at the same time, investigating the Grant case and the people involved in it.

Karen Shields, detective chief inspector of Homicide West, initially does not want to talk with Frank, but they become confidantes as three separate plot lines unfold--the story of Maddy and the death of Grant; the story of Frank's daughter Katherine and her lover Rob Summers, who becomes the subject of a police investigation for drugs; and the story of a rogue police detective who may have much to hide--someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to protect his own, mostly financial, interests.

A gritty police procedural, Ash and Bone tracks several characters who have connections to more than one plot line--involving drugs, prostitution, and graft--creating suspense and dramatic tension as new information is revealed about each of these characters and their behavior. Eventually, characters become linked to "cold cases," and the horror of their betrayals of the public trust creates even more suspense as the implications regarding Elder's cases become obvious.

Lovers of police procedurals will find this novel a classic of the genre. Realistic, often depressing because of the venality of some of the players, but carefully constructed within a tight narrative structure, Ash and Bone offers much to intrigue admirers of character development, at the same time that it keeps the tension high with plot twists and new characters. Though Elder himself is not fully developed here, the "bones" that author Harvey has created will allow further development in future novels. Complex, the plot keeps the reader fascinated, and all "loose ends" are eventually resolved. n Mary Whipple

This is the first book I've read by John Harvey, the famous British crime novelist. It won't be the last. I really enjoyed reading this novel.

This is the second book of a series, but you don't need to read the first book to thoroughly enjoy ASH & BONE. Nottingham cop Frank Elder is drawn out of retirement to investigate the murder of a policewoman he once knew. This book follows his investigation, his difficult family life, as well as the lives of various secondary characters who are affected by the crime he's investigating.

I read a lot of mysteries and thrillers, and I would place the quality of Harvey's writing right up there with Michael Connelly and Robert Parker. This book takes place in the UK, but American readers won't have much of a problem following the story or relating to the characters.

This is a first-class novel, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys top-notch crime fiction. John Harvey doesn't have much a following in the United States, but I hope that will change soon.

This is my first exposure, I think, to John Harvey. The man certainly knows how to tell a story and keep you awake while he does it.

Set in England, Frank Elder is a retired Detective Inspector. The rape and near-death of his teenage daughter a year before, a divorce, just the tiredness of the job caught up with Frank and off he went to semi-rural England. Occasionally he, like other retired officers gets a call to help out on cold-cases, but Frank has had enough . . . until a woman officer is brutally raped and murdered.

Back into the Fray for Frank as he assists Karen Shields, an up and coming Inspector who feels often picked upon because she is a woman and Afro-Jamaican. Elder actually does act as a mentor, a helper. He doesn't take over the investigation of the murder of Maddy Birch, but rather suggests, prods and calls in favors. Author Harvey hit upon a masterstroke to keep the story going while allowing otherwise lesser characters to have their own believable story.

The late Detective Sergeant Birch had been a witness to the fatal shooting of one James Grant by George Mallory, another police officer. The shooting may not have been entirely "righteous" and suspicion falls upon Mallory. Harvey is expert at building backstory as we see when another suspect emerges.

Elder's 17 year old daughter becomes part of the story as she gets into a few scrapes of her own, one of which may involve corrupt police officers. Yet one more story added to the mix.

There are few more little stories blended in as well and none of them are distracting. All in fact help round out Elder and give this procedural a human quality it might otherwise lack.

Like many good police procedurals, "Ash & Bone" conveys the boredom of much police work without becoming boring itself. There are more than enough surprises to keep things moving perkily along. (About 50 or so pages in I thought I knew who the murderer was and asked myself why was I continuing to read: this John Harvey can't write suspense. Boy, was I wrong.)

"Ash & Bone" is a fine read.

Jerry

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