The first in this series, A Bleeding of Innocents opens at a funeral for a dead policeman. It isn't too long after the funeral that a case is handed to Detective Superintendent Frank Shapiro, who has brought in DI Liz Graham to take over the load left by the policeman's death. The dead policeman's partner, Cal Donovan, also needs to work to try to help with his guilt over his partner's death.

It seems that a young geriatrics nurse is brutally shot in her car while there with her husband. Then it isn't long until another medical professional is also killed -- and now the Castlemere detectives realize that these deaths were not random. They have to put together the pieces to come up with motive, but there's still the death of Donovan's partner to consider, making it not one case but two.

I didn't feel like I really got to know any of these characters, with the exception of Donovan. However, in a series opener, the lack of character development is to be somewhat expected. I'm sure the author will continue to draw more out of her characters as the series progresses. The core mystery was good, the police work good, but at the end the tone gets a little preachy & it detracted a bit from my enjoyment of the story.

I'd certainly recommend the book, and I do have the entire series on my shelf and plan to finish all of them. It's a police procedural through and through, not at all a cozy.

Overall...okay -- I just hope the characters get a bit more fleshed out in the continuing series. ( )

The first of Bannister's Castlemere series, this book introduces DS Frank Shapiro, DI Liz Graham, and DS Cal Donovan. The three must forge a team, despite their varied personalities and preferred methods of working crimes while solving several murders. A good start to an entertaining series. ( )