Number 63 - The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths - Harry Bingham

 

Harry Bingham  knows how to give good title. This is the third book in a series.  The first two are called Talking with the Dead and Love Story With Murders.  The series is narrated in first person by a detective in rural South wales called Fiona Griffiths.

That makes this a more than slightly ominous title for book three. However the strange death is more figurative than literal. Fiona has to go undercover to solve a serious fraud case which seems to have branched out into murder. She's not well known for her emotional stability at the best of times and finds her new undercover identity supplanting her own.

This is one series that seems to improve as it goes on.  The first was very good, but turned a bit silly near the end.  It was well enough written though that I had no hesitation in picking up book 2.  Admittedly, even if I had doubts, that title, Love Story with Murders, would have persuaded me. Book 2 either managed to hold back on the silliness or incorporate it more naturally into the narrative.  

Book 3 is the best of the series so far.  despite being nearly 450 pages, the p[lot zips by at a cracking pace and it feels like half that length.  

There still is a level of silliness in this, some of what she does would almost certainly have blown her cover (or just plain had her killed), but it's convincing enough while you're reading that it's easily forgivable. Apart from anything else, it's too entertaining to nitpick. 

I have book 4 on my shelves and will be reading that in the not too distant future.