Cold Pursuit [Hardcover]

Judith Cutler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 2007

When a colleague becomes seriously ill, Chief Superintendent Frances Harman has to delay her impending retirement to oversee an investigation into a recent spate of happy slappings and minor assaults in the Kent area. Initially, she begrudgingly takes a back seat in the case, but it is not long before she is once again perilously close to the action. The wave of assaults has ignited a media furor and Fran is concerned that an unnecessary atmosphere of mass hysteria is being generated in the area. She soon finds herself having to spend as much time trying to control the media as trying to catch the criminals. However, the local reporter that initially broke the story, Dilly Pound, may have personal reasons for taking such an avid interest in the case. Meanwhile, Fran in still in the throes of middle-aged love with her superior, Mark Turner, but struggling to adapt to their new domestic arrangements. There may be trouble on the horizon too in the form of new arrival DCI Jill Tanner who immediately seems to show an unhealthy fascination with Mark. As the crimes gradually escalate and the line between happy slapping and serious sexual assault becomes blurred, all mention of retirement is postponed until Fran can resolve the nightmare that has enveloped around her.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The fresh and lively style of Judith Cutler's writing always appeals and I look forward to the next one' Bernard Knight

About the Author

Prize-winning short-story writer Judith Cutler is the author of two acclaimed series of crime novels set in Birmingham. The Dying series features amateur sleuth Sophie Rivers, while in her police procedural series Inspector Kate Power lives up to her name. One-time Secretary of the Crime Writers' Association, Judith has taught Creative Writing at Birmingham University, and has run occasional writing courses elsewhere. Now a full-time writer, she lives near Canterbury with husband and crime-writer Edward Marston.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 284 pages
• Publisher: Allison & Busby LTD (March 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749081678
• ISBN-13: 978-0749081676
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,777,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Judith Cutler's Fran Harman is one of my favorite police officers., September 22, 2011

By 

Cathy G. Cole (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cold Pursuit (Paperback)

First Line: "Chief Superintendent Harman! Ms Harman!"

So near and yet so far. Counting the few remaining days until her retirement, Detective Chief Superintendent Fran Harman is asked to fill in for a colleague who's undergone triple bypass surgery. All she has to do is oversee investigations into a rash of happy slappings (unprovoked attacks on individuals made in order to record the event on video phones) and minor assaults. Initially taking a backseat in these matters, due to the media frenzy it's not long before Fran is right in the thick of the action. Unfortunately she's spending as much of her time in an attempt to control the media as she is in trying to catch the criminals. The local reporter who broke the story has personal reasons for taking such an interest in the case, and as the crimes begin to intensify, there's no way Fran Harman is going to retire until she can resolve everything.

It's a shame for me as a reader that fifty-five-year-old Fran Harman is so close to retirement. She's reached a position of some authority, and you don't have to read very many pages before you know why. She doesn't waver at making tough decisions, she's not afraid of hard work, and she's a deft hand at working with her people and dealing with her superiors. She can even have the media eating from the palm of her hand:

"Is it true, Chief Superintendent Harman, that they've brought you back out of retirement to investigate these cases?"

"Golly, did I forget to park my Zimmer frame properly?" She looked about her in comic distress. "No, Ms Pound, I hadn't retired and have no immediate intention of doing so."

But this woman deserves retirement. For the first time in over twenty years, she's free to do as she pleases. Her children are grown and living their own lives. She's no longer spending every weekend caring for her aged parents. Moreover, she has a man in her life whom she loves dearly, and she'd like to be able to concentrate on their life together.

The investigations aren't solved by brilliant flashes of insight or marvels of deductive reasoning; they're solved by hard, dogged policework. Fran is in her element, although she does have to deal with a journalist who's such a timid blockhead that Fran doesn't know whether she wants to shake or slap Ms Dilly Pound-- and having the man she loves also be a police officer can put a crimp in her hands-on investigative style.

Reading Cold Pursuit lets you get to know an extremely talented police officer in her element. It's too bad Fran Harman can't be cloned and put in police forces around the world.