Customer Reviews

Ash and Bone

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A police procedural with several simultaneously unfolding plot lines, Ash and Bone is full of twists and turns, surprises and shocks, certain to keep mystery lovers reading well into the night. Complex and well developed, it features almost forty characters--police, crooks, and police who may be crooks, along with their lovers and families. Ostensibly "a Frank Elder mystery," Elder himself does not play a major role at the beginning of the novel. Instead the focus is on Maddy Birch, a detective sergeant in Serious and Organized Crime, who is on a bust with Paul Draper, a young detective constable, trying to apprehend James William Grant, a man accused of armed robbery, money laundering, drug dealing, and extortion, when things go very wrong.

Detective Inspector Frank Elder, retired from the Nottinghamshire force and now living the life of a semi-recluse in Cornish, is persuaded to help in the internal investigation of Grant's death. Maddy Birch is someone he has known for years and has cared about. Separated from his wife for several years, Elder blames himself, in part, for his daughter's abduction, rape, and violent assault when she was in her early teens. As Frank tries to reconnect with this estranged daughter, he is, at the same time, investigating the Grant case and the people involved in it.

Karen Shields, detective chief inspector of Homicide West, initially does not want to talk with Frank, but they become confidantes as three separate plot lines unfold--the story of Maddy and the death of Grant; the story of Frank's daughter Katherine and her lover Rob Summers, who becomes the subject of a police investigation for drugs; and the story of a rogue police detective who may have much to hide--someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to protect his own, mostly financial, interests.

A gritty police procedural, Ash and Bone tracks several characters who have connections to more than one plot line--involving drugs, prostitution, and graft--creating suspense and dramatic tension as new information is revealed about each of these characters and their behavior. Eventually, characters become linked to "cold cases," and the horror of their betrayals of the public trust creates even more suspense as the implications regarding Elder's cases become obvious.

Lovers of police procedurals will find this novel a classic of the genre. Realistic, often depressing because of the venality of some of the players, but carefully constructed within a tight narrative structure, Ash and Bone offers much to intrigue admirers of character development, at the same time that it keeps the tension high with plot twists and new characters. Though Elder himself is not fully developed here, the "bones" that author Harvey has created will allow further development in future novels. Complex, the plot keeps the reader fascinated, and all "loose ends" are eventually resolved. n Mary Whipple

This is the first book I've read by John Harvey, the famous British crime novelist. It won't be the last. I really enjoyed reading this novel.

This is the second book of a series, but you don't need to read the first book to thoroughly enjoy ASH & BONE. Nottingham cop Frank Elder is drawn out of retirement to investigate the murder of a policewoman he once knew. This book follows his investigation, his difficult family life, as well as the lives of various secondary characters who are affected by the crime he's investigating.

I read a lot of mysteries and thrillers, and I would place the quality of Harvey's writing right up there with Michael Connelly and Robert Parker. This book takes place in the UK, but American readers won't have much of a problem following the story or relating to the characters.

This is a first-class novel, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys top-notch crime fiction. John Harvey doesn't have much a following in the United States, but I hope that will change soon.

This is my first exposure, I think, to John Harvey. The man certainly knows how to tell a story and keep you awake while he does it.

Set in England, Frank Elder is a retired Detective Inspector. The rape and near-death of his teenage daughter a year before, a divorce, just the tiredness of the job caught up with Frank and off he went to semi-rural England. Occasionally he, like other retired officers gets a call to help out on cold-cases, but Frank has had enough . . . until a woman officer is brutally raped and murdered.

Back into the Fray for Frank as he assists Karen Shields, an up and coming Inspector who feels often picked upon because she is a woman and Afro-Jamaican. Elder actually does act as a mentor, a helper. He doesn't take over the investigation of the murder of Maddy Birch, but rather suggests, prods and calls in favors. Author Harvey hit upon a masterstroke to keep the story going while allowing otherwise lesser characters to have their own believable story.

The late Detective Sergeant Birch had been a witness to the fatal shooting of one James Grant by George Mallory, another police officer. The shooting may not have been entirely "righteous" and suspicion falls upon Mallory. Harvey is expert at building backstory as we see when another suspect emerges.

Elder's 17 year old daughter becomes part of the story as she gets into a few scrapes of her own, one of which may involve corrupt police officers. Yet one more story added to the mix.

There are few more little stories blended in as well and none of them are distracting. All in fact help round out Elder and give this procedural a human quality it might otherwise lack.

Like many good police procedurals, "Ash & Bone" conveys the boredom of much police work without becoming boring itself. There are more than enough surprises to keep things moving perkily along. (About 50 or so pages in I thought I knew who the murderer was and asked myself why was I continuing to read: this John Harvey can't write suspense. Boy, was I wrong.)

"Ash & Bone" is a fine read.

Jerry

John Harvey is a new writer to me and I'm delighted to find that he writes about characters who could have inhabited the TV series "The Bill" in its' early days, with old fashioned police work and solid, hard working policemen and women. Frank Elder is a retired Detective Inspector, living a lonely, solitary life in Cornwall. His wife has divorced him and remarried, and his teenaged daughter is still bitterly resentful that, through his work connections, she was abducted and raped. When forty something Detective Sergeant Maddy Birch is raped and murdered, Frank is drawn back to the force on a temporary basis as he and Maddy had once worked together and shared a tiny moment. The author draws a very skilful plot with two suspects vying for the role of Maddys' murderer at the same time and more than a hint of some very nasty police corruption. I look forward to reading more in this series as it is written.

Detective Inspector Frank Elder has had a tough time of it lately. He's recently retired from the police force following the abduction, rape and near murder of his daughter Katherine. Guilt is Elder's constant companion and permeates his life because he feels responsible and is unable to help her recover emotionally. The relationship between father and daughter is faltering. His long-time marriage failed some three years earlier--and now there's a new man in his ex-wife's life.

With life caving in on him, Elder retreats to a solitary life in Cornwall where isolation from people and his own emotions is a respite that could go on forever. But real life intrudes when his former wife telephones Elder to inform him Katherine, in response to her horrific experience, is acting out. Elder returns to London in an attempt to help, but success is elusive.

Meanwhile, a former colleague, Detective Maddy Birch, is involved in a police action that involves the death of a dangerous criminal. Following the death, which is under examination by the department, Maddy's instincts tell her that she is being followed.

Then a newspaper story with startling information that affects Elder personally is the catalyst that temporarily brings him out of retirement. In London Elder is drawn into police work once again with Chief Inspector Karen Shields who resents his involvement. One case brings him out of retirement, but others begin to intrigue him and Elder is determined to find the answers and to reconcile with a troubled daughter.

This is my first John Harvey novel, and it won't be the last. I enjoyed the storyline and the full-bodied and flawed characters immensely. Since this is a British novel it contains idioms and terms likely unfamiliar to most Americans. Some might find it distracting while it made it more authentic for me.

Armchair Interviews says: Ash and Bone is an exciting and compelling novel that will keep you turning the pages. It is highly recommended. If you haven't read any of John Harvey's previous novels, you will find yourself searching out the others.

Detective Inspector Frank Elder is adjusting to an isolated life in Cornwall, his attachments pared down to the necessities. Frank has good reason to retreat, his marriage in shambles, his sixteen-year old daughter, Katherine, abducted, raped and almost killed the year before. After Katherine's horrendous ordeal, recriminations fill the air and poison the marriage, Frank's relationship with his daughter deteriorating as well. In Cornwall, Frank seeks comfort in solitude, until a phone call from ex-wife Joanne informs him that Katherine has been acting out, no doubt a reaction to her traumatic experience. Frank volunteers to return to London and see what he can do, although his daughter has refused contact with him for months. Meanwhile, in the heart of London, Detective Maddy Birch is instrumental in taking down James William Grant, a dangerous criminal who is killed at the hands of another officer. After Grant is killed, Maddy's instincts are still on high alert, giving off warning signals, a vague sense of threat following her even into the safe retreat of her home. Like Frank, Birch is a pro, not given to hysteria.

Frank discreetly follows his intractable daughter, while Detective Birch is even more convinced that someone is stalking her, her nerves frazzled from the inquiry over Grant's death at the hands of another officer. Soon afterwards Frank receives another jarring phone call, this one not from Joanne, but the department, a chilling report that draws him out of retirement in Cornwall and back to the job he left behind. In London, Elder is quickly engaged in another investigation with Detective Chief Inspector Karen Shields, who grudgingly accepts the aid offered by the seasoned veteran, on the trail of a rapist who has moved from fantasy to action. Yet Elder remains intrigued by Grant's untimely killing, the arrest in which Maddy is so instrumental. As in any thorough investigation, the detectives follow every clue, sure of their direction, but plagued by doubts as well. To further complicate matters, Elder's daughter runs afoul of the law, unmoored since the violence she barely survived, her rebellion drawing Frank closer in an effort to help his damaged child.

The attraction between Elder and Shields, who is black, adds spice to an already interesting story line, their unexpected relationship injecting an element of humor that is so often ignored in the ongoing drama of police work. With Frank still reeling from his acrimonious divorce and worries over his daughter, Karen Shields is the perfect antidote, a professional woman, but refreshingly candid and ethical. In Ash & Bone, a sexual predator, dirty cops and a sting all combine to make Frank Elder's return an enjoyable read, Frank attaining a level of rapprochement with the troubled Katherine, his recent misfortune greatly alleviated by Karen Shields' excellent police work and refusal to take him too seriously. Luan Gaines/ 2005.

John Harvey has found his voice again; his new character, Frank Elder, has become as rich and deep as Charlie Resnick. Harvey weaves a number of mysteries in Ash & Bone that intersect in unpredictable and interesting places. As in his first Elder novel, Frank runs into a now retired Resnick well along in the book and for a page or two they make the bridge to the wonderful Resnick series. A very satisfying read!

"Maddy Birch would never see thirty again. Nor forty either." This is what she thought as she frowned into a mirror that revealed wrinkles beginning to show around her mouth and gray sneaking into her hair. The first lines of "Ash & Bone" describe someone growing older. Sounds benign, doesn't it?

Here's a woman none too pleased with the signs of aging as she approaches her 44th birthday. She's a British detective sergeant assigned to Serious and Organized Crime. Her bank account's thin and she's making payments on her flat. Maddy doesn't think that's much to show for "half a lifetime on the force."

Readers are immediately drawn to this no-nonsense likable woman. She's devoted to her job, doesn't much care for the condescension shown females on the force, and most definitely isn't interested in suggestive leers or clumsy gropes from her fellow officers. When we first meet her she's in a minor state of shock. She had recently accompanied Detective Superintendent Mallory and young Paul Draper on a raid to capture a top criminal, James William Grant. During that foray Grant is shot and killed by Mallory who notes, "Textbook. Head and heart." The killing, Mallory finds, is cause for "A wee celebration."

At this point readers are totally hooked, wondering where ace thriller writer John Harvey is going with Maddy and her response to this experience. Thus, it's quite a shocker when she is found dead early on, page 64 to be exact.

Leading up to this Harvey has skillfully reintroduced retired Detective Inspector Frank Elder, who has received a disturbing telephone call from his former wife. It seems their teenage daughter, Katherine, is running amok, staying out for all hours, sometimes overnight, keeping company with a drug dealer.. Elder blames himself for Katherine's anti-social behavior, believing it to be trauma caused by her earlier kidnaping and rape - a crime he feels he could have prevented. This is remorse he can't erase even by "the slow but steady application of alcohol to the wound, the plastering over of helplessness and guilt."

Thus, we have two parallel stories, Katherine's salvation and the murder of Maddy Birch. Elder, humane, honest, lonely, comes out of retirement to help with the investigation of Maddy's death and at the same time try to reconnect with a daughter he loves.

Word master Harvey creates revelatory dialogue that tells you more about the characters than any physical or emotional description could. This author is so adroit that even silences between people speak. His story is, of course, a police procedural, but penned with realism seldom found and respect for the characters he has created. He's devised a fast moving many layered plot that totally absorbs.

Suffice it to say that Elder almost meets his match in Detective Karen Shields, smart, black, great looking, and an intimidating six feet tall. Together they begin to unearth evidence that Grant's killing goes far beyond a routine police shooting and may, in fact, jeopardize the credibility of the entire unit.

Harvey's first novel featuring Frank Elder, "Flesh & Blood," won the British Crime Writers' Association Silver Daggar Award - polish a gold trophy for "Ash & Bone."

- Gail Cooke