Walk on by

A woman is stabbed in a car park during a robbery, and with the Big Boss out of action, DI Ted Darling finds himself running that strand of a large, complicated operation. The trouble is the man overseeing the whole enquiry: a senior officer with a serious grudge against Ted, and every intention of bringing him down. Then someone from Ted's past turns up asking for help, and that can only mean more trouble.

The seventh Ted Darling novel, after Wild Thing, keeps the series' focus on character as much as on casework. Ted is a distinctly different kind of detective, and much of the pleasure lies in watching him hold his nerve while the pressure comes from inside the station as well as out. For anyone who likes their police procedurals grounded in the people doing the work.