Customer Reviews

The Hard Detective

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I really like H.R.F.Keating, and can hardly believe he wrote this book. I couldn't even finish it. "Doctor Smellyfeet"? "Mr. Man"? Was that supposed to be funny? The "Stop the Rot" campaign? This one had to be to see if we were paying attention. Ugh!

Harriet Martin is the hard detective--she is always sure she's right. In THE HARD DETECTIVE, she faces a criminal who is even harder and even more certain about justice. The criminal is exacting the justice from Exodus--a life for a life, an eye for an eye, etc. on the police force of Birchester (England). Somehow Harriet must track down the killer before the police department is decimated. Yet can she do so and remain the Hard Detective?

H. R. F. Keating has written a book that will intrigue the reader both through its subject matter and through the interesting differences between police procedures in the U.S. and in Britain. Harriet grows as a character, starting off harsh, yet becoming more human when faced with the logical consequences of her own belief structures. Initially she finds the justice of 'an eye for an eye' appealing.

Her loathing of criminals is so intense that the criminalelement calls her THE HARD DETECTIVE. Deputy Chief Inspector HarrietMartenns is in charge of the "Stop the Rot" campaigndesigned to get all criminals, even those committing petty crimes off the streets. She carries out her assignment with a zeal that at times can be frightening...

THE HARD DETECTIVE is not an easy character to like because Harriet expects perfection at all costs, which makes her seem unbearable and intolerant. Superintendent Martens behaves more like a crime fighting caricature than a human being. Though the serial killer story line will hold interest of die-hard sub-genre fans, other readers will prefer some of the marvelous other works by H.R.F. Keating.

Harriet Klausner