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24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Flesh and Blood, John Harvey, 16 Mar 2005
I bought this book largely because it won the CWA Silver Dagger last year, and I was keen to catch up with a writer with such a large reputation. The start of a new series, an award winner too, I thought: a great place to start. All true. Flesh and Blood is a fantastic crime novel, and a very worthy winner of the award. I'd previously thought it was a sort of "consolation prize" for never having won a Dagger before, despite bucketloads of lavish praise. It's still possible that for the judges that may have been a factor, but this book is an excellent crime novel in its own right, completely ignoring Harvey's reputation. Retired policeman Frank Elder is a great new protagonist. Like the best fictional policemen, he fits the mould perfectly and yet has touches of originality to him that make him nicely distinct. I'll be glad to read the second book when it comes out next month. I'll be glad, indeed, to go back and read Harvey's previous Charlie Resnick series (in fact, i ahve already started snapping them up), because he's clearly a master at writing about crime and criminals, creating atmosphere, and plotting. All those virtues are exhibited plentifully here. Flesh and Blood is a gripping, superbly written, atmospheric and mature crime novel. (Very similar to Peter Robinson in some ways, but I can imagine Harvey being even better.) Give it a read.
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