False Knight [Large Print] [Hardcover]

There is a little too much murder in this novel to be entirely credible. But it's otherwise a competent police procedural, with lots of meaty interviews with witnesses and suspects.

The kick-off of the plot is the discovery of a female thigh in a trash bin). DNA analysis identifies the thigh as part of the missing wife of a rather unpleasant man who may or may not be the murderer.

The detectives, sergeant Yellich and his boss George Hennessey, are in disagreement throughout most of the story. Yellich, being young and sharp, wants to move in fast on the suspected husband. Hennessy, on the brink of retirement, wants to go at a slow, careful pace. Hennessy's fear that his memory and effectiveness may be fading is a sub-theme.

False Knight is not a brilliant book, but if you're looking for a short crime novel to kill a little time, it's okay. I enjoyed it in a lukewarm fashion. I'm always in search of a new mystery series, which is why I got this book. I will not be pursuing the series.

With "False Knight" Turnbull adds little to his unambitious mystery series starring Detective Chief Inspector Hennessey and Detective Sergeant Yellich. For the most part, these two protagonists remain consistently nice and a bit dull. This time, however, he does spice up the interaction between them with conflict over how the murder investigation should be conducted. As the case progresses, Hennessey, nearing retirement, notices he is slipping a bit in mental sharpness, and Yellich, generally agreeable, becomes impatient with his superior. It wouldn't surprise any readers of this series to know their ill feeling doesn't last long, as these are two of the nicest men around.

Turnbull provides a decent plot in "False Knight" that includes a dismembered leg found in a garbage wheelie bin and a missing wife in a local village. As usual, Turnbull's plot gathers momentum only to take a turn in a new and surprising direction. There are shortcomings to this series, but plot is not one of them.

This book is very short. Turnbull seems to be cranking out this series in record time, and reducing the number of pages must be his way to do so. Normally he provides standard filler about Hennessey's personal life, eg, his remembering the death of his brother while riding his motorcycle, or scenes of Yellich at home with his wife and son, but this time those sections are omitted with nothing new to replace them. It is not as though these sections are missed, so the quality (such as it is) isn't really compromised. Overall, this series is what it is--some interesting plots played out by dull characters with journeyman writing.