Thicker Than Water

November 30, 2015
Set in 1977, British author Spencer’s strong 10th mystery featuring Det. Chief Insp. Monika Paniatowski’s (after 2015’s Best Served Cold) finds the Whitebridge detective just back from maternity leave. Paniatowski answers a summons to the posh residence of Councillor William Danbury, where au pair Gretchen Müller has found Danbury’s wife, Jane, bludgeoned to death. As soon as aggressive, chauvinistic Danbury returns home, he confronts Paniatowski, who’s trying to control the crime scene. When she refuses to let him go upstairs to see his children, he assaults her. Things get even more chaotic when the police belatedly discover that the couple’s two-year-old daughter, Melanie, is missing. Evidence that Danbury abused his wife, had affairs, and would benefit financially from her death makes him a prime suspect—but one with an alibi and friends willing to use their influence to protect him. Some deft plot twists, set against the pervasive misogyny of the period, lift this procedural well above the norm.

Starred review from December 1, 2015
DCI Monika Paniatowski (Best Served Cold, 2015, etc.) returns with passion from maternity leave. Trading in her red MGA for a clunky Ford Cortina is just one of the painful sacrifices Monika is ready to make for Thomas and Philip. But just as the cop in her never shrinks from duty, the mom in her must do what's best for her infant sons. And right now, what's best is for her to return to work and prove her value to Chief Inspector Clive Barrington and Chief Constable Keith Pickering of the Mid-Lancs Constabulary, who are still concerned about promoting a woman to the rank of chief inspector. Their choice is challenged immediately. Councilor William Danbury, whose wife, Jane, is found bludgeoned to death in their posh home in Milliner's Row, is a chauvinist of the first order, showering love on his two sons but ignoring his youngest child, Melanie. Even when Melanie disappears from the family home the night of her mother's murder, it's not concern for his child that the rich and powerful Danbury shows but rage that Monika, a woman, should be in charge of the case. Hearing Danbury's dad, Archie, pontificate about the importance of manliness--and seeing evidence that Archie routinely beats his wife, Ethel--helps Monika realize how Danbury's attitude developed. But his contempt for women only confirms Monika's opinion that he's the most likely person to have killed Jane, a view that puts her at odds with the very men who hold her future in their hands. Although Spencer's path is a familiar one, she treads it with authority. It's good to have Monika back, doing what she does best.

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2016
There's no question that Spencer's newish series featuring DCI Monika Paniatowski just gets better and better. In the latest installment, Monika has returned from maternity leave, only to be faced with one of her most challenging murder cases yet. Jane Danbury, the wife of one of Whitebridge's leading citizens, Councillor William Danbury, has been found bludgeoned to death in her home. What's just as distressing is that the Danburys' two-year-old daughter is missing. In Monika's eyes, Danbury is the most likely suspect, and the fact that he's a woman-hating, violent, egotistical man only seems to strengthen her certainty that he's guilty. But as Monika digs deeper, trying to prove Danbury killed his wife, she soon learns that some of her facile assumptions are wrong. In a shocking twist, the killer is revealed, but there's little satisfaction for Monika in solving this very sad case. A gripping read for those who like British police procedurals with tough, smart heroines.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)