My first book by John Harvey. I approached with a positive feeling, given my preference for British authors generally. Nice, engaging writing style and interesting characters. Really liked Elder the main protagonist, came across realistically as an early retired, somewhat disappointed, disillusioned police detective who feels compelled to dig up some of his past. Fair suspense but a bit meandering at times. Didn't like the ending, felt a bit rushed without enough focus on the main villains and their associates - how they ended up. Inserting a personal angle with about 10% left came across as an afterthought and, I think, was partly why the ending seemed rushed. I skimmed through the last 10%. Still, I enjoyed the book and will read another in this series. I haven't read any of his Charlie Resnick series but will probably have a go at that as well. I wonder if the ending inspired the ending of one of the Girl With the Dragon Tatoo books which came out a few years later? ( )

First outing for retired Detective Inspector, Frank Elder. Still plagued by the unresolved case of the disappearance of Susan Blacklock, he starts reinvestigating. Soon all hell breaks loose and his daughter gets caught up with tragic consequences. While tautly written, there was a lot of detail of rape, torture & violence with particularly nasty male characters. The detailed sex scenes (of Elder and the missing girl's mother) also appeared to be male fantasy. Can see why Harvey is a well-respected crime writer but won't be rushing to read any more. ( )

Harvey's such a good writer. In this book Frank Elder, separated from his wife and his career in the police, finds himself revisiting a case from the past when a suspect is released from prison. There's a sympathetic but unsentimental portrait of the damaged young criminal as well as new crimes that may be his work. It's not Charlie Resnick, but it's a close second.

En riktigt bra deckare. Bra beskrivna och trovärdiga karaktärer. Spännade och lättläst. ( )

I've always thoroughly enjoyed John Harvey's writing. I've read all the Charlie Resnick books, so I thought I would try the first in the Frank Elder series.I certainly wasn't disappointed. Harvey always has such great characterizations about believable characters. In addition to the crime(s) being investigated, there is such good interplay between all the characters. We learn about Elder's ex-wife and 16-year old daughter, Kate. I think Kate is a major character in the next book of this series as well.I couldn't really put this book down. It wasn't available on the Kindle, so I had to read in the old-fashioned way. It's a really good English procedural. I will start on the second in the series very soon. ( )