This review first appeared in The Sunday Age - 02 March 2008.

Rebus may be enjoying his well-earned retirementt, but the police procedural continues, with new and established writers competing for market postiion. Among the very best is Graham Hurley. His crime scene is Portsmouth, but his broader concern is modern Engalnd.� Hurley has two sleuths, Faraday, detective inspector and bird-watcher, and DC Winter, a rough and unorthodox cop.� Within a short space of time, a property developer dies in an apparent gangland execution, and a government minister is assassinated by terrorists. The two cases show an almost forensic efficiency, but does that alone mean a link?� As Faraday investigates, Winter is involved in a complex undercover operation. Their paths will cross in a story of murky morals and dodgy motives.� Hurley's major target is the devastation wrought by Thatcherism. which 10 years of Labour governments have failed to fix. When those in power worship market forces and hate community, it is hardly surprising that their enforcers - the police - suffer.� Burnt out and bitter, they are prey to the temptation of the dark side, to join the criminals, or take the law into their own hands. Powerful stuff.