Happy Days (Di Joe Faraday) [Paperback]

i've loved the Faraday books but after the ending of the previous book, i wondered where the series could go and if Graham Hurley would be able to carry it off. I need not have worried. in my opinion this is actually the best book in an excellent series. i won't mention the plot (no spoiler alert needed!) but suffice to say i read it in two days and could not wait to get back to reading it; i read it slowly towards the end to savour it. A brilliant plot that pulls a lot of threads together and lots of characters from previous books appear. i highly recommend it. Brilliant!

.... but if you're new to the series, this is not the place to start.

Graham Hurley is surely the most under-rated writer of crime fiction in the UK, but it's difficult to see why this should be so. He's had some excellent commercial reviews - I was hooked years ago by the Sunday Telegraph review quoted on the sleeves of his more recent books: 'There is no-one writing better police procedurals today'. That is certainly true, even though I rarely agree with anything I see in the Sunday Telegraph. Why isn't he up there with the likes of John Harvey, Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson? It seems that even our most vocal traditional critics, the French, appreciate him better than we do - they have dramatised four Faraday and Wilson cases for television.

So, since I rate Graham Hurley so highly, why do I award only three stars? In short, it's because I don't think 'Happy Days' really does the business as a stand-alone novel. This, I think, is not really surprising, and my conclusion implies no criticism of the author. To explain my reasoning, I need to go back to the beginning.

'Happy Days' is the twelfth and final novel in the Faraday and Winter series, which began with 'Turnstone', almost twelve years ago. The series is in many respects extremely realistic; the characters - all of whom are skilfully drawn - act as unpredictably as real people. There are no stereotypes here, except perhaps among those at the high end of the chain of command = and perhaps that's because people in that situation do tend to conform to their sterotypical image, because that's how they achieved their high office.

DI Joe Faraday tries to deal stoically with the tough hand life has dealt him; devastated by the early death of his wife and left to bring up his deaf-mute son, he and his son seek solace in birdwatching, but back at his desk Faraday becomes increasingly disillusioned with the ever-expanding bureaucracy of the job. Behind the face he shows the world, the vicissitudes of his life and his work have left him emotionally vulnerable.

Into his world comes DC Paul Winter, something of a renegade in the ranks. but with an instinctive ability to analyse the situations with which he is confronted, and to find his way to solutions which, though achieving the desired result, are nor always as envisaged by procedural manuals. Faraday and Winter develop a mutual respect, and work successfully together, until (for reasons which I can't reveal without spoiling the pleasure of those who follow the advice below) Winter decides to defect to the dark side, and in the Portsmouth setting of the novels the dark side means Bazza Mackenzie, sometime major drug dealer turned businessman, and by the end of the series pursuing ambitions to become the MP for Portsmouth North.

Characters and situations develop as the series progresses and, perhaps more so than in most other well-known police series, the greatest enjoyment and satisfaction will be extracted from the novels if they are read in the correct order. For the record, the sequence begins with 'Turnstone', as mentioned above, followed by 'The Take', 'Angels Passing', 'Deadlight', 'Cut to Black', 'Blood and Honey', 'One Under', 'The Price of Darkness', 'No Lovelier Death', 'Beyond Reach', 'Borrowed Light' and finally 'Happy Days'. I am hugely impressed by the way the author has woven into 'Happy Days' the resolution of every outstanding loose end in the series - I can't recollect any detail which is not properly disposed of. All this is slotted imperceptably into the main storyline of the book, which follows Mackenzie's efforts to be elected on a 'local boy made good and ready to serve the community' ticket in the 2010 elections. It's gripping, entertaining and unpredictable but, in view of all the other baggage the novel carries in winding up the series, I'm fairly sure that a reader new to Faraday and Winter would mark it considerably lower than the five-star ratings given by those whose reviews have already been posted - but it's clear that all of them are already fans of the series.

By now, I hope you've sussed out my real message - this, like the eleven preceding books in the series, is really a five-star novel, but to appreciate it properly you need to read the other novels first. Believe me, that's no hardship; they're all available in paperback and what could be pleasanter than the prospect of eleven books' worth of top-quality crime fiction? Take my advice, and enjoy!

In conclusion, DC Jimmy Suttle, who has featured increasingly in the more recent novels in the series, is moving to a new job with one of the Major Crime Investigation teams of Devon and Cornwall Constabulary - echoing the author's own move from Portsmouth to the South West. 'Western Approaches', the first novel with Jimmy as lead character, is scheduled for release in December - so you all know what will be at the top of my list for Santa Claus!

Happy Days is the last in the Faraday and Winter series, with a subtitle "The reckoning awaits". In this book, as Mackenzie and Winter both try to control circumstances to their advantage, each character's flaws grow more apparent and moral ambiguities become greater as they both use their wits and cunning to achieve their own goals and ends.

As this is the last book in the series, we expect some kind of resolution. Is Mackenzie now really untouchable? Can the Machiavellian Kinder turn Mackenzie from local criminal into a politician? Will the financial pressures of the recession finally hit home? And what of Winter- will he really be Mackenzie's undoing?

I won't give the plot and the ending away, but say that even after 11 previous books, this one still has great atmosphere, bold characters, excellent pace and intricate plotting with twists and turns that just keep coming - some very left field and completely unexpected as well as behaviour that occasionally seems out of character. It's a really good read and I found myself turning the pages more and more quickly to get to the reckoning. At one point I almost screamed "No - why did you do that? He's not that stupid!" When I finished and put the book down, it did leave me wondering what justice really is - I say no more.

Although Faraday and Winter are now off the scene, there is good news for Hurley fans. Jimmy Suttle is moving to the West Country for a fresh start in a new series of books - Western Approaches, here we come!!