Cold in Hand

For ten years, fans of John Harvey's Charlie Resnick novels were offered a new book at a regular once-a-year pace. Then in 1998 Harvey announced, much to the dismay of that fan base, that he was done with Resnick for good. At the time, Harvey offered no hope that he would ever resume the series but in 2008 he surprised Charlie's loyal fans with his eleventh Resnick book, "Cold in Hand." Charlie Resnick, some ten years older now, has his thirty years in with the Nottingham police and, on his bad days, the possibility of retirement often crosses his mind. Charlie is still pretty much the man he was ten years earlier, an intensely introspective guy who lives with his cats and surrounds himself with classic jazz recordings, a cynical man seldom surprised by anything that life throws at him. Charlie, however, does admit that his romantic relationship with Detective Inspector Lynn Kellogg, the much younger woman now living with him, did surprise him. When he thinks too long about it, it still does. When DI Kellogg tries to stop two teenage girls from fighting, a young man with a gun suddenly comes at her and the girl she is pulling away from the fight. Shots are fired, the young girl is shot dead, and Kellogg - still wearing the bullet proof vest she needed on an earlier incident - is wounded. Resnick is given a prime role in the investigation and finds himself dealing with a man who claims that Lynn Kellogg saved her own life by using his daughter as a human shield, something for which, the man loudly proclaims to one and all, she will pay dearly. Kellogg herself, when she returns to the job, is charged with solving the murder of an Eastern Europe prostitute brought into the country specifically for the sex trade. Her investigation places her into an uncomfortable conflict with one being conducted by the Serious and Organized Crime Agency and endangers the lives of her only witnesses. As the action moves between London and Nottingham, Kellogg begins to suspect that the SOCA investigator heading up that case might not be the man he pretends to be. John Harvey writes a brilliant police procedural and "Cold in Hand" is no exception but, as usual, depth of characterization is the most impressive aspect of Harvey's writing. Charlie Resnick, especially for long time followers of the series, is a fully fleshed man with all the aches and pains, both mental and physical, that come with the years. He is a thoroughly decent man who deserves someone exactly like Lynn Kellogg in his life, a woman who sees deeply into Charlie's soul, past his rumpled appearance and physical limitations, to the goodness there. The book, too, is filled with believable secondary characters, on both sides of the law, that move the story along to its fateful ending. Despite the tough time that Charlie has in "Cold in Hand," his fans will enjoy catching up with him - and will hope to see him again in a few months.

The newest book in the Charlie Resnick series by John Harvey finds Charlie, lover of cats and good jazz, and his fellow police officer, Lynn Kellogg, having lived together for nearly three years. Charlie, much the older of the two, is almost at retirement age and uncertain of where he wants his life to take him at this point. As the novel opens, two girls, 15-16 years old, are facing off in a gang confrontation, ending when two shots are fired by a young boy, the first bullet hitting Lynn Kellogg, the second one killing one of the girls. Luckily Lynn is not badly hurt, thanks to her bulletproof vest. In the aftermath, the family of the knife-wielding dead girl blames Lynn for their loss. When Charlie is placed second in command of the investigation and charged with finding the boy who had pulled the trigger, some conflicts arise, some of them expected and some of them less so. And then the threats begin. A separate story line deals with the Serious and Organised Crime Agency [SOCA], a recently created division, looking into one of Kellogg's old murder cases with ramifications well beyond the obvious, including trafficking in drugs, guns and people. The fallout from both of these investigations has a profound impact on the lives, both personal and professional, of Kellogg and Resnick. The title, as usual, derives from a jazz recording, this one "that song Bessie Smith used to sing . . . something about waking up lonely, cold in hand." The book is wonderfully well-written, gripping from start to finish, with sadness and tragedy interwoven in a tautly plotted tale. A stunning entry and perhaps the best yet in this terrific series.

It's been ten years since Harvey last published a Charlie Resnick novel, and while his more recent Frank Elder series is OK, it's never grabbed me the way the ten Resnick books did. So it was with great surprise and delight that I stumbled upon this new entry in the Nottingham-set series. It opens with the ever-rumpled and aging copper Resnick shacked up with his much younger colleague Lynn Kellogg, who is rising quickly in the homicide division. On her way home one evening, she tries to break up a fight between teenage girls and ends up in the middle of a messy shooting, unable to prevent the death of one of the girls. Resnick, who has been marking time in the robbery unit, gets brought in to help investigate this murder. Unfortunately, much of the story has a certain familiarity to it. The dead girl is black, and the cops are accused of dragging their feet as a result, and covering up for Lynn. Hardly a new theme in British crime fiction and TV, and Harvey does little to bring anything fresh to it. The story also becomes a vehicle for noting the increase in gun-related violence in Britain as well as painting a picture of the huge different in policework over the last 30 years. Meanwhile, the other main plotline involves a murder Lynn is investigating, and how it intertwines with a higher level customs investigation. All of these themes feel a little late to the party at this point, as any number of crime novels and TV shows have covered the same ground. Which is not to say the book is bad -- but simply that these elements are very familiar ones. However -- halfway through, something rather spectacularly shocking occurs, and the story shifts away from Resnick, over to a female DCI from London. She has brought in to lead the investigation on this shocking act, and her no nonsense attitude invigorates the book and helps to ratchet up the tension. Along for the ride is her rather stock-figure deputy, a rough-hewn old-school headbanger who's there to provide the anti-PC commentary. As the story rolls along, one gets the sense that this odd couple is being set up as the protagonists for a new series. As they race around pursuing one angle, Resnick, after lurching around like a fool for a whole, slowly puts the pieces together on a different angle, and everything comes together in a rather grim conclusion. In tone and writing, the book is very much in keeping with the rest of the Resnick series (right down to the requisite jazz citations and itemized accounts of the contents of Resnick's refrigerator). However, it feels about ten years behind the times in terms of topicality, at least to me. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of Harvey's new dynamic duo, and it seems pretty clear from the book's final pages that Resnick has at least a few more adventures to come.

Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick returns in Harvey's new thriller, albeit perhaps a more domesticated man, having entered a satisfying relationship Detective Inspector of the Homicide Unit and Hostage Negotiator Lynn Kellogg. With his favorite blues and jazz playing in the background, Resnick and Kellogg have reached a comfortable accommodation with their work and their private lives. Charlie, nearing his thirty and retirement, isn't questioning his good fortune in attracting the younger Kellogg, as bright an effective in her chosen career as the more seasoned detective. Intervening in a knife fight between two teenagers in a gang-infested Nottingham neighborhood, Kellogg is involved in an unfortunate incident: a gun is discharged, hitting Kellogg and another victim. Since English officers don't usually carry firearms, the situation is particularly ominous, leading to concerns of an infusion of illegal weapons into the city, a city already compromised by poverty, unemployment and rampant drug abuse. Indeed, through the complicated plotting of a skillful author, the unlikely connections between petty street crime and drug use yields more frightening connotations- the rising influence of the Eastern European mob, Nottingham a seething cauldron of illegal activities and the threat of mob control. The city suffers as well from international gun running, human trafficking and a tidal wave of illegal drugs that have overwhelmed agencies, police facing enormous challenges in every arena. While Charlie is assigned to the neighborhood shooting, Lynn recovers, thanks to her bullet-proof vest, returning to one of her own troubling cases, protecting a fragile witness in a gruesome murder, the mob threatening to annihilate or terrify any potential witnesses. Focusing on her witness, Lynn is frustrated by the interference of SOCA, the Serious and Organized Crime Agency, that seeks to swallow her case with their broad-based, arguably more high-impact investigation. These two characters, the very sympathetic Resnick and Kellogg, illustrate the difficulties of modern police work, the seasoned, dedicated investigative style of a veteran cop and the younger face of the agency, a capable, likeable woman whose skills reach beyond the common wisdom of the old fraternity. That they do so with such grace and efficiency adds to the pleasure of this novel, in spite of the real world problems that flood the pages. And there are other challenges: the diminishing of small cases in favor of the high-profile, headline-grabbing busts that allow the police to celebrate their few triumphs against accelerating crime, the neighborhood tensions and racial inequities that beleaguer even the most dedicated departments, an influx of illegal weapons, human trafficking and rampant drug abuse. All of this is daunting; Kellogg and Resnick are tested on every level, personal and career. In a thoughtful, troubling novel, Harvey delves into the very heart of city police work, frustrated

First Sentence: It was the curious time, neither day nor night, not even properly dusk, the light beginning to shorten and fade, the headlights of a few overcautious drivers raising a quick, pale reflection from the slick surface of the road, the main route back into the city. DI Lynn Kellogg has been shot while breaking up a fight between girls in two rival gangs. One girl was badly injured, while the other girl, attacking Lynn at the time, was mortally shot. Lynn's lover, DI Charlie Resnick is nearly retired but brought in to lead the investigation for the shooter while the dead girl's father blames Lynn. Meanwhile, once Lynn is back at work, she is investigating a case which links to one being worked by the Serious and Organized Crime Agency. The case goes from dangerous to tragic. I was so excited to see a new Charlie Resnick book and I wasn't disappointed. Harvey knows how to tell a story. He draws you in, gets you involved in the characters and the plot, hits your emotions, builds the suspense and brings it to resolution in a satisfying, realistic manner. Charlie is a great character and Harvey gives you a real feel for his life and the people in it. Lynn, being much younger than Charlie, is a perfect balance and foil for him. I've read all the books in the series but, with each new one, I want to go back and read them again. Not because I don't remember them, but because they are so good and this was the icing on the cake. I hope this isn't the last time we see Charlie Resnick.