Falling More Slowly

This was the first book I've read by Helton, and I liked the fact that the DCI wasn't London based but was nonetheless based in a big city. The somewhat expected bad-boy detective—but I enjoyed being introduced to the character—was not too predictable (yet, perhaps). For me, the best detective stories focus on character rather than procedure, so I look forward to reading more from Helton.

This was the first book I've read by Helton, and I liked the fact that the DCI wasn't London based but was nonetheless based in a big city. The somewhat expected bad-boy detective—but I enjoyed being introduced to the character—was not too predictable (yet, perhaps). For me, the best detective stories focus on character rather than procedure, so I look forward to reading more from Helton.

Fans of the British mystery can celebrate a new inspector on the block with Falling More Slowly, the first title in a new series from Peter Helton starring Detective Inspector Liam McLusky, newly transferred to Bristol CID after his recovery from near-fatal injuries suffered on the job at his previous post in Southampton. As McLusky himself notes, “New city, new job, new pack of ciggies, extra mild. New first-floor flat, rented.” He’s ready to start over in his new “patch,” where his reputation as “Unpredictable” and “a bad team player” has preceded him.

McLusky, however, is barely inside Bristol’s Albany Road station for a nine o’clock meeting with his new superintendent when, instead, he tears off with Detective show more Sergeant “Jane” Austin to answer a domestic disturbance call. On the scene there he manages to destroy the new car he’s just been issued. DS Austin, however, manages to commandeer a ride for them back to the station. But, as they try to navigate a long shortcut around Bristol’s traffic, they hear an explosion and see smoke rising from Brandon Hill. A bomb has just exploded under a park bench. McLusky and his team arrive on the scene, followed shortly by Superintendent Denkhaus, who makes it very clear to his new DI just who is in charge. He then assigns the bombing case to McLusky, who must now prove he’s worth his title as the bomber escalates his activity and endangers more people.

Falling More Slowly displays all the credentials needed for a new police procedural series: fully drawn, complex characters; interesting plot; and a realistic setting. McClusky will be especially appealing to fans of author Graham Hurley’s DI Joe Farraday; or to fans of DI Jack Frost, a character created by author R. D. Winger and made popular by the British television series, A Touch of Frost. The next title in the series, Four Below, is due out in January 2012. show less

FALLING MORE SLOWLY is the first book in this new series by Peter Helton. Detective Inspector Liam McLusky is beginning his new assignment in a new place after recovering from injuries sustained when a suspect knocked him down and ran over him. His reputation precedes him – arrogant, loner, thinks he knows more than anyone. McLusky wouldn’t argue with the description.

When he arrives at Albany Street Station, he meets his sergeant, James, “Jane”, Austin and his shown into his office, the first he has ever had. When the phone rings, he answers quickly, perhaps too quickly. The constable on the other end is reporting a domestic situation, the call all police officers dread the most. More police officers have been attacked at a show more domestic than on any other call. One partner is fighting with the other partner. Things escalate. One calls the police. When the police arrive, they try to restore some calm to the atmosphere. Both partners resent the intrusion of the police and, together, turn on the people they had brought into the brawl.

McLusky and Austin arrive to find some injured constables and four destroyed cars, including two squad cars. The husband is driving his construction digger around his home, determined to destroy anything that gets in his way. He is determined to knock down his house, with his wife in it. Their marriage is ending. They have been living in his home but she wants it as part of the divorce settlement. He’d rather knock it down that give in, an example of why the police hate domestics. McLusky determines that the only way he can get to Mr. Spranger is by using the department car to distract him. The department is now down three cars. “Spranger got out and stood for a while staring at it all, trying to take it in. Half of hie house had collapsed. Water cascaded where the digger had bitten through the bathroom plumbing and the spare bedroom had now slid into the kitchen.” Mr. Spranger went off quietly with two police officers.

Before McLusky has a chance to return to the police station, he and Austin hear the sounds of an explosion near a city landmark. They arrive at the park to find a young man seriously injured and a woman barely alive. A fire is raging in what is left of a wooden shelter, a small, three-sided building, built on a cement block. The shelter was so small and the fire so big that the police realize a bomb a bomb had been set there. Who? How? Why?

It is this incident from which the story is built. Bombs go off across the city, some big, some small, all dangerous and all a threat to the lives of anyone nearby. The police can’t discern a pattern. Some of the bombs are designed to do as much structural damage as possible. Others are in full view, waiting to detonate when touched by any passerby. The people of the city are panicked. How can anyone defend against the random actions of a mentally unstable killer?

As time goes by, the police, especially McLusky, are increasingly pressured to find the killer. But how can that be done when there is no apparent motive?

Inspector McLusky grows on the reader. He is a police officer with all the necessary instincts to successfully solve the puzzle that all crimes are. Sergeant Austin is the perfect sidekick; he can anticipate his boss’s needs and, when necessary, he can read his mind. This is a promising beginning for a series.

Peter Helton is the author of three book in the Chris Honeysett series, SLIM CHANCE, HEADCASE, and RAINSTONE FALL. Honeysett is a detective/artist who lives in Bath, a great setting for any story. show less