Sins of the fathers

Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend has big problems. First, Bob Rutter, one of his best detectives, has just returned to work after a nervous breakdown following a torrid affair with a colleague and the savage murder of his wife. Can Rutter handle the job, or is he too mentally fragile? Then there's Detective Monika Paniatowski, who had the affair with Rutter. Can the pair work together and forget about the past? But these problems pale in comparison with Woodend's latest case. Political candidate Brad Pine, a local businessman, has been brutally murdered, and his murder seems to hinge on an event from years earlier, when Pine and two friends were stuck in a mountain blizzard; only Pine and one of his pals survived. What happened on the mountain that could have resulted in Pine's murder? A solid, well-plotted British procedural that will entertain both fans of this fine series and procedural addicts in general. --Emily Melton Copyright 2006 Booklist

Chief Constable Marlowe, the ever-present enemy of Chief Inspector Woodend (Stone Killer), is beaten out of the running for Parliament by wealthy Bradley Pine. But Pine is then murdered, and Marlowe, who takes Pine's place in the election, gives the case to Woodend with the admonishment that he not look into Pine's background too closely. Woodend's homicide team immediately begins to dig, and the facts they uncover force them to reconsider the death of Alec Hawtrey, Pine's mentor and business partner, who was killed years earlier in a mountain climbing accident involving Pine. Set in 1960s Lancashire, Spencer's procedurals feature personable and flawed characters and are as finely plotted as the crime novels of Minette Walters and Jo Bannister. Spencer, who usually ends each book with a hint of what's to come in the next entry, lives in Spain. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.