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Deadlight
 
 

Deadlight (Hardcover)

by Graham Hurley (Author) "It took a while for Faraday to make sense of the shape swimming up towards him in the fixing bath ..." (more)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Orion (17 Jul 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0752850962
  • ISBN-13: 978-0752850962
  • Product Dimensions: 24.2 x 16.5 x 4.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 136,218 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Graham Hurley's Deadlightstretches the stock assumptions of the police procedural--he is good on the ways in which the preconceptions of the investigating officers can hopelessly contaminate their judgement and the way crucial pieces of evidence can entirely turn a case on its head.

Someone kicked and battered ex-navy prison officer Coughlin until he choked to death on his own vomit--he was not a likable man and part of the trouble for the investigative team is that there are almost too many leads. As prison officer, Coughlin made it his business to mock and humiliate anyone who claimed to be innocent, for example, several of the investigators believe they need look no further than his principal victim. Coughlin adopted a brutally aggressive persona in Internet chat rooms and was hated by his shipmates for being a bully and a rapist--yet there were people who loved him in spite of his awfulness.

This is an intelligent thriller because it remembers that no-one is all of a simple piece--most of the police in Hurley's cast, even his viewpoint figure Faraday, are only marginally less flawed than the villains. --Roz Kaveney



Review

Faraday and Winter make an excellent detective pairing, and Portsmouth is a good locale for a crime series. In their latest adventure, Faraday has been promoted to the elite Major Crimes Unit, and is investigating the murder of a prison officer called Coughlin. He was an ex-petty officer in the Royal Navy, and served on a frigate in the Falklands war, which was sunk with the loss of 19 hands. As a prison officer, he was universally loathed by everyone, and perhaps he was killed by a released prisoner with a grudge. It is an intriguing mystery, and makes for a gritty tale told with plenty of verve.

This, the fourth of Hurley's novels based around the exploits of Detective Inspector Joe Faraday, continues on from its compelling predecessor, Angels Passing. Once again, the city of Portsmouth supplies an unwelcoming and unfriendly background through which the central character and his colleagues make their way. The hell of being aboard a bombed ship in the Falklands sets the pace, before Hurley brings us right up to the present day, as England prepare to take on their old Argentinian rivals in the 2002 World Cup. While early summer unfolds in 'Murder City' Faraday, who has won himself a place on the Major Crimes Team, worries that work is really having too much of a detrimental effect on his personal life to the extent that it 'becomes a memory'. Little does he know that the brutal murder of a certain Sean Coughlin is going to account for even more of his precious time. The circumstances surrounding Coughlin's demise are peculiar to say the least, and as the investigating police ensure the dead Prison Officer gets the 'five-star service' a picture develops of a deeply unpleasant and unpopular individual. He has a penchant for extreme pornography and bullying, and a trail of enemies, any one of who could be responsible for his death. The investigation really heats up as a connection is made between his murder and a suspicious death from two decades previously. Once again Hurley's story moves along at a brilliantly maintained pace, with a cast of well-developed characters playing off each other convincingly and realistically in their professional rivalries and everyday encounters. From the cynicism of Paul Winter to the fastidious Chief Superintendent who wears ironed socks, it all makes for a highly enjoyable, hard-edged and hard-bitten read. Roll on the next instalment. (Kirkus UK)

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4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Portsmouth noir, 14 Jan 2005
By Dr. Sn Cottam "Steve the medic" (Preston, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
A taut, gritty and superbly told contemporary British police procedural.

A prison officer with a unsavoury past is brutally murdered in Portsmouth. Of course this crime generates massive police efforts to solve it and the investigation takes the dogged but flawed Inspector Joe Faraday from London to Devon via Gibraltar looking for the killer. Set against the backdrop of a frentically busy police department and a chillingly realistic depiction of modern Portsmouth, Faraday must look back 20 years to the Falklands War and the deceased's naval service for the answers to the murder. Brilliantly juxtaposing the background Falklands conflict with the contemporary 2002 World Cup England v Argentina match, Graham Hurley catches the mood of a country, a city, a police investigation, an individual superbly. The twists and turns of the investigation, the blind alleys, the false leads, the personality clashes, the distractions are all really well evoked. This accomplished novel was the first Graham Hurley I've read - I'm looking forward to tackling the rest now. If you enjoy British crime fiction (or even if you don't) and haven't already made the acquanitance of Mr Hurley and Inspector Faraday already, do so - otherwise you're really missing something.

And isn't it good to see a quality modern crime novel, indeed any British novel, not set in London...

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Graham Hurley masterpiece, 26 Dec 2003
Graham Hurley may not have the following of some detective novelists, but surely this must change now! Deadlight is another in the series of Joe Faraday novels. Faraday is a totally believable character, he has faults, he has failed relationships and he has an over-bearing boss. But one thing he also has is a tenacity to work beyond himself and solve crimes with the resources at his disposal, and within the budget. These novels keep getting better, you just cannot put them down. Roll on number five in the series!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A consistently high quality..., 25 Nov 2007
By bloodsimple (nottingham, uk) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
This is the fourth in the Joe Faraday series, and shares the same expert eye, and keen sense of place, of the others in this series. Hurley's Portsmouth is rough, uncompromising, with a brittle shell of aggression. Faraday is a credible character, failing to balance his private life as well as he manages the egos and politics of his colleagues.

Other police procedurals are more popular. Usually they have been brought to the TV screen, or they're bought by people who simply want Miss Marple updated. They don't want to deal with messy situations, compromises, stories that don't end neatly; or they want a book that somehow turns out well for no apparent reason. One of the beauties of Hurley's books is his refusal to provide pat endings, trite "lessons in life" or focus-grouped finishes. His characters have more grit and resonance than the likes of Ian Rankin can ever muster.

You don't need to read these novels in order, but it helps a little if you do. Whichever order you choose, you'll get the best police procedural in Britain.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Like watching it live
Graham Hurley is a local author to me. His Joe Faraday novels are set in Portsmouth and that is where I am as I write this and you read it. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Joanne D'Arcy

5.0 out of 5 stars The best so far
Graham Hurley's Joe Farrady books are well worth reading. Its best to read them in order, but not essential, but that way you get to know the characters as they develop. Read more
Published 19 months ago by P. Horrex

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