Michael Hambling, DARK CRIMES

This novel introduces DCI Sophie Allen and her team in a case where they find a woman who has been stabbed through the heart on a city street on the same night that her mother was strangled in her home. As they delve into these crimes, the team discovers that the twisted mind of one individual is at work, and this person plans to kill again and again to accomplish his aims.

I have read a number of books in this British police procedural series, and they have been uniformly good. Allen is intelligent and well-educated, but she also has the cool street smarts to make her a convincing detective. Her team manifests the usual personal problems and allows the author to engage in some social commentary. A few may find Allen’s family life a bit too precious, but this is a small quibble in what is an excellent-so-far-six book series. I would recommend taking a look.