Deadlight (Hardcover)

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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