TIP TOP

Barely pseudonymous Bill James brings British policewoman Sally Bithron (Hear Me Talking To You, 2005, etc.) back for a mildly entertaining, mildly psychological encore.

Assistant Chief Constable Esther Davidson and Bithron have been tasked with investigating another police force suspected of corruption. Both women are happy to escape their own homes and domestic quagmires and throw themselves into someone else’s problems. They start with a sleazy informant who appears to have gotten rich spilling secrets about crime to the cops—until the guys on the street sniffed his treachery and killed him. One of Bithron and Davidson’s biggest concerns is that someone out for yet more revenge may try to kill the dead informant’s partner and son. They also desperately need to figure out if someone on the force was skimming funds from the grass. And they’re going to have to do all their sleuthing without a lick of help from the hostile force they’re investigating. Bithron goes undercover as a druggie, trying to chat up the local dealers, but she’s not much good at it, and her interlocutors aren’t that helpful. Davidson, however, is altogether more intriguing: ballsy, brassy, loyal, intriguing and intuitive. She’s clearly made many sacrifices to reach her rank in a male-dominated field. Sadly, even she talks an awful lot like all the other characters here.

Certain to pass the time if you’re stuck in a doctor’s office.