From Publishers Weekly
Political, labor and class strife in modern England lead to murder in this taut and sometimes poignant procedural. Penelope Browne, an upper-class film producer and sister of right-wing MP Russell Browne, is found shot to death in her Hutton-on-Trent cottage. The investigation by Detective Inspector "Jacko" Jackson, last encountered in Bent Grasses, is hampered by his superior's nerves over the brother's position as the new Minister at the Home Office for Police Affairs, but complicating facts come to light early. The child-loving Penelope had had an abortion recently, and she maintained a close friendship, possibly a love affair, with her brother's major political rival, Rich Richardson, a married union leader whose family had been active in labor action for decades against the Brownes' glass works, source of the family wealth. The possibility of IRA involvement is raised early but dismissed. While the married Jacko probes into motives and timetables, he finds himself drawn to fellow investigator WPC Tricia Floyd-Moore, who draws him out of middle-age megrims in Palmer's vividly evoked post-industrial society.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
When Penny Browne, a leftist filmmaker and sister of right-wing politician Russell Browne, is murdered, the investigation is full of political and personal traps for Inspector Jacko Jackson of the CID. First, Russell Browne is not only a rising light in the Conservative Party, he's also the Home Office minister who oversees the police. Next, Jackson discovers that Penny Browne was having an affair with Rich Richardson, a Labour Party firebrand and her brother's rival in upcoming elections; she's also recently had an abortion. Finally, Jackson has been partnered with an outstanding young woman detective with whom he instantly, unrequitedly, falls in love. Along the way, Jackson will unloose the skeletons in both the Browne and Richardson family closets. Palmer has created a challenging mystery with several neat twists along the way. His specialty is creating well-rounded characters, both major and minor; a case in point is Richardson's father, a veteran of the class wars of the 1950s and 1960s, and someone with a long history of hatred for the Browne family. This terrific police procedural should appeal to most mystery fans.
George Needham
