SUDDENLY AT HOME

A police duo investigating a dead man with no past can’t trust the two people who seem to know the most about the crime.

DCI Harry Brock and DS Dave Poole, called in to investigate the shooting death of a man in an upscale apartment in the North Sheen neighborhood of London, find almost nothing to investigate. Apart from the body of a man they identify as Richard Cooper, the apartment is devoid of human touches, almost as if it were a hotel suite rather than someone’s home. At the scene, Brock and Poole question Dennis Jones, the friend who found the body. According to Dennis, Richard feared for his life, though Dennis has no idea why, and he appears suspiciously distant from the whole scene while simultaneously sunk in his own anxiety. Poole, who can’t resist calling his bluff on the facts, isn’t impressed by the roundabout answers Dennis provides. Meanwhile, Brock pursues information from another lead, Cooper’s neighbor Lydia Maxwell, who first called the police. Though Brock and Poole are suspicious of both the interviewees, they can’t find evidence that either was closely enough connected to Cooper to want him dead. The case stalls until a tiny detail sends Brock and colleague Kate Ebdon to Belgium and down a rabbit hole of possibilities. If only Ison (Reckless Endangerment, 2014, etc.) could keep from introducing every female character as a potential love interest for Brock.

Witty repartee rules in this procedural, though some of it may require a British-slang dictionary.