Turnstone [Audio CD]

Graham Hurley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2002

Portsmouth is a city on the ropes. Parts of the city are as deprived as anywhere in the UK; it has the highest repossession rate in the country; only East London packs in its people more densely. As the city haemorrhages jobs the crime rate is soaring; it has the highest volume of cases going through the Crown Courts of anywhere in England. It is a city of contrasts: people in the bottom 5% of earners live alongside those in the top 5%; HMS victory rests in the docks, the Royal Navy is pulling out. It is a poor, dirty city but a spirited one. And it is home for DI Joe Faraday. Joe Faraday is 42. Six foot tall, loose-limbed and with a slow smile, Faraday has made it in the CID through extraordinary diligence, an unswerving commitment to principle and an uncanny knack for gauging character. Slow to make friends, a widower, dedicated to bringing up his profoundly deaf son, Faraday pushes himself hard and expects the same from his colleagues. Stories abound in the Portsmouth North Division of the quiet DI's sudden, volcanic outbursts of fury directed at inferiors and superiors alike who haven't matched his own exacting standards. An enigma to those he works with, Faraday's refuge from the desperate business of policing his hometown is his passion for the natural world and the bird life that teems on the beaches and estuaries of the South coast. And now the sinking of one of the yachts in the Fastnet race is beginning to look like the perfect cover for a murder that cuts to the core of Portsmouth's money set. But only Joe Faraday believes it happened.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The best British police procedural that I've read since John Harvey's 'Resnick' series, and that's a real compliment."  —Independent on Sunday

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Graham Hurley was an award winning TV documentary producer. He has lived in Portsmouth for 22 years, writes a column for the local paper and is closely involved with the civic life of the city. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Isis Audio; Unabridged edition (August 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753114917
• ISBN-13: 978-0753114919
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 7 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great series opener!, January 5, 2009

By 

Nancy O (hobe sound fl) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Turnstone (DI Joe Faraday) (Paperback)

DI Joe Faraday of the Portsmouth CID is a widower with a deaf, 22-year old son. As with other police departments, the Portsmouth CID is awash in budget cuts, way too much crime on the streets, with not enough people to handle it. As the book opens, a little girl walks into a police station to report her dad missing. But it's a while until Faraday hears about it ... his bosses want him to do damage control with the press, with developers who want to bring foreign investors to the area, and who want the crime level reduced. Basically, he's swamped. So when he begins to look into the little girl's missing father case, he's grateful to be doing some real detective work instead of being a desk jockey. There's just one problem: he wants to devote resources to the missing dad case, convinced it's murder, but there's no body to prove his theory so, and he's being pressured by the people upstairs to drop it. However, he's so convinced that there's foul play involved that he takes the case on anyway.

The writing is very good and the characters come across as realistic, especially those people with whom Faraday works. The storylines also work well together, and Hurley doesn't get bogged down in one to the point where the others don't get fully explored.

I'd definitely recommend it to readers who enjoy a good British police procedural and people who enjoy British mysteries. It's not a cozy so definitely don't go here if that's what you're looking for.

All in all, a fine series opener and good read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Gritty and powerful, August 9, 2011

By 

Srdjan Pesic (Minneapolis, Mn United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Turnstone (DI Joe Faraday) (Paperback)

Graham Hurley starts his new exciting series in a rough city of Portsmouth. I finished this remarkable procedural just as the riots are spreading through the United Kingdom. Amazing coincidence or a sharp prediction?
In this debut, police is barely managing to keep order. Crime and violence are overtaking the city. Grim, but accurate picture of our world as it is speedily rolling downhill.
DI Joe Faradey, is a dedicated and honest policeman.Morals and principals are in short suply. The book is written with utmost skill, mixing thrills with acute observations about our shaky present. Brilliant work by Mr. Hurley.

5.0 out of 5 stars Five-Star Police Procedural: as good as it gets, March 27, 2011

By 

Librarian (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Turnstone (DI Joe Faraday) (Paperback)

Eight-year-old Emma Maloney gathered the coins out of her bank, got on a bus by herself, and walked into the Kingston Crescent Police Station hoping just maybe the police could find her dad, just like they'd found her bike that time. And Detective Inspector Joe Faraday finds he is just as determined to get answers for this child who has finally given him a case worth pursuing.

"Turnstone," the first book in the Detective Inspector Joe Faraday series by Graham Hurley, is about as good as it gets for a police procedural. The characters are fully drawn, the plot is intricate, and the personal lives of DI Faraday and his officers of the Portsmouth CID are realistically crafted to sustain the reader's interest. Faraday, a widower whose deaf adult son has just left the nest, spends his time off birdwatching. Detective Sergeant Cathy Lamb, married to another police officer, is finding domestic life a bit elusive at the moment. Then there is Paul Winter, another member of the CID force, whose ambition and methods Faraday dislikes and distrusts, but even Faraday must admit the man knows how to get results. And then there is The Public, where money and influence have a say in what cases get what resources. Throw in some yacht racing and drug dealing in just the right amounts and you have a five-star story that will leave you looking for the next title in this British detective series.