DCI Isaac Cook and his team are still coping with their politically connected, not very competent new boss, Caddick. That's annoying at the best of times, but now they're investigating the murders of two people in a seedy hotel. The man is James Holden, a moral purity campaigner and Member of Parliament, older, married, and respected. The woman is Helen Langdon, young, beautiful, and with, let's say, a complicated history. They were in bed together, of course.

Were they killed because Holden made enemies? Or is the crime tied to Langdon's background, dancing in a strip club run by organized crime?

Or are the two things connected?

It is, in any case, only the tip of the scandal iceberg, and others will be brought down by it.

Isaac Cook, Larry Hill, Wendy Gladstone, and others at or connected to the Challis Street Station remain interesting characters who continue to grow. Never having been there, my opinion is uninformed, but London's diversity has the feel of being very real, not the same ethnic stew I live in, but a real one, with different ingredients. The police world also has the feel of being real, though I'm even less informed on that. Very enjoyable, and a satisfying mystery.

Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the author. ( )