Body Breaker

“Mr Craven goes one better.”

Investigating a severed hand found on the 3rd green of a Cumbrian golf course was not how Detective Inspector Avison Fluke had planned to spend his Saturday. So when a secretive unit from London swoop in quoting national security, he’s secretly pleased. But trouble is never far away. A young woman arrives at his lakeside cabin with a cryptic message: a code known to only a handful of people and it forces Fluke back into the investigation he’s just been barred from. In a case that will change his life forever, Fluke immerses himself in a world of new age travellers, corrupt cops and domestic extremists. Before long he’s alienated his entire team, made a pact with the devil and been arrested under the terrorism act. But Fluke is only getting started. A voice has called out to him from beyond the grave and he has no intention of ignoring it.

“Fluke is a magnificent creation; a man with an intriguing present as well as a past, and one who will follow whatever path seems right to him to achieve his goals. This leads to plenty of outrageous scenarios – and highly entertaining reading. Other characters are also individual and well drawn; not the mish-mash of indistinguishable police people you sometimes find. The suspects were satisfyingly evoked and the game of find the murderer played out very well. It wasn’t a book with just a murder: it had themes such as how people react to authority, and how identities can be assumed, lost, refound, never left. I enjoyed the setting of northern Cumbria, and I enjoyed the modern terrorist reincarnation of old Troubles. Very pacey, hugely interesting, never a dull moment and with characters and a conclusion I could enjoy.”
Mystery People.