Stephen Wade

"A Reference Guide to Police Procedure now and then" (or "Past and Present" as my copy says) is excellent for the "now" part, with enough detail in text that gets straight to the point. I'd give it 5 stars if that was all this book was. However the "then/past" part is where it's a bit of a mess. Each chapter has an anecdote or two about a specific incident vaguely related to the main chapter and the book finishes with a rushed summary of British law enforcement history. The anecdotes aren't show more much use because they're so specific to a time and place, and the potted history at the end is so lacking in detail as to be mostly useless. The historical side of things seems to be very much an afterthought that intrudes into what is otherwise an excellent reference for modern police procedure. Don't bother if you're looking mainly for historical reference. show less

1920 Cardiff, and ex-boxer, ex-prisn officer and now provate investigator Ed Galber, is employed to find a man, a Captain Hone. We also have the story of Tommy, a conscientious objector held at a camp run by Hone.
It was an interesting enough story though I'm not sure that I care much for the character of Galber.

Excellent! Well researched and entertainingly presented. Being born and bred in Grimsby this was a true eye-opener. Reading this book was also a great insight into the history of the area and I was impressed with the fact that the author had very good details even about the really old crimes. I thought Grimsby was getting quite bad now but it's not a patch on how it used to be!

1885 Sarah Dalby, widow, has gone missing from a dinner party celebrating her victory against the railway company. A week later Inspector Fred Gooch, and advisor George Grossmith are sent to Sussex to investigate. Then they are faced with a murder. The Inspector needs to find the killer quickly or face retirement,
An enjoyable mystery