After reading the New York Times article about Peter Grainger, I ordered the first book in the series, An Accidental Death. I’m now on book four, Persons of Interest, with no plans to stop. All the reviews about the series are spot on. David – DC – Smith, like Grainger, shuns the spotlight and doesn’t care about titles or awards. A former DCI, he came back after a work break and is comfortable being a DC, working under Detective Inspector Alison Reeve, who once worked for him. While their relationship is still developing, Reeve respects Smith and often defers to his judgment.
Smith doesn’t have any of the baggage authors often pile on their characters. He’s not an alcoholic. He doesn’t have anger issues. After being married for decades, he’s now alone after his wife died from cancer. What he does have is the respect of the other detectives, except for the big boss, Detective Superintendent Allen, who seems threatened by Smith’s success. Since Smith has been on the job for 30 years, Allen keeps looking for ways to retire the detective, or at least sideline him.
DC Christopher Waters, a newbie whose father Smith once worked with, is wet behind the ears, but Smith senses he will make a good, maybe great, detective and takes the young man under his wing. Waters, of course, is eager to work with Smith. Ten years ago, Smith solved “Andretti,” a serial killer case. A bestselling author specializing in true crime wants her next book to place Smith center stage. This relationship with the writer, Jo Evison, continues through the series as Smith develops a respect, and maybe, an attraction to the author.
In the very first book, Smith believes An Accidental Death is not an accident. A group of students were gathered on the riverbank, drinking beer. Three of the boys were in the water and began to splash some canoeists who came by. There was a child in one of the canoes and a man, probably the father, got angry. He shouted at the boys, disparaging young people these days. Wayne, one of the students, went after that canoe. Since the river bends at one point, Wayne’s friends lost sight of him. When he didn’t return for a long time, they searched for him. His body later turned up and because of the bruises, his death is called a drowning, his injuries attributed to being tossed around in the water. Smith, however, is not ready to close the case.
Although Grainger was never a cop, he excels at the details of a police investigation. Smith is methodical in how he manages a case. Whether inspecting a crime scene or questioning a witness, he has a plan, never rushing headlong into a situation. Interviews with possible suspects are particularly well written. Smith is skilled at setting traps which suspects often walk right into.
In the second book, But for the Grace, Joan, an elderly woman, a resident of a care home, is found dead. Because of her age and health issues, the home’s management, and the police officer who was the first to show up on the scene, are ready to call it a natural death. Smith is not ready to do that. And when the autopsy finds a lethal quantity of morphine in the woman’s body, an investigation begins. Smith isn’t sure this is murder or assisted suicide. In his mind, that distinction doesn’t matter. Someone helped Joan end her life and that person should be help liable.
Smith also has empathy for the victims of crimes which is on full display in the third book, Luck and Judgment. After a worker goes missing from a North Sea gas platform, Smith refuses to accept either of two explanations, that James Bell slipped and fell or took his own life. An examination of the platform shows it’s almost impossible to fall, the walkways carefully enclosed. There’s also no evidence that James was depressed. Yes, he, his wife, Lucy, and small child, lived in the rundown apartment complex known as The Towers. But James’s fortunes were looking up since workers on the gas platform are paid well. When Smith meets Lucy, she keeps saying James was working hard so that they could move to a better apartment. However, James was living a double life, using some of his newfound money to buy himself expensive toys, like a new smartphone, and become a frequent visitor to a club where married singles could enjoy sexual encounters. (Part of the investigation finds Smith and DC Serena Butler posing as a married couple who want to join the club.)
The bathroom in the Bell’s apartment had been torn apart. Smith doesn’t accept Lucy’s explanation that James got drunk and took his anger out on the fixtures. And when a forensic team finds a great quantity of blood was cleaned up, Smith wonders if James was killed.
Despite the blood found in the Bell’s apartment, the Grainger series might be called a “cozy” police procedural. Smith and his fellow detectives don’t carry guns and there are no wild shootouts like in some police procedurals. This series is for the fan who enjoys digging into how a police investigation actually unfolds, especially when run by an intelligent, meticulous detective like Smith.
Top Shutterstock photo by New Africa
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