"Dead of Night" by Stephen Puleston

The winter has been brutal. Investigating crimes and suspected crimes has Detective Inspector John Marco and his colleagues in the South Wales Police Service shivering and cursing the wind and snow. They come up against what it means to really shiver in the winter, with the brutal death of a homeless man that is clearly homicide. The victim is one of many of the people “living rough” in Cardiff, and while most city residents might turn a blind eye to the homeless ness problem, Marco is determined to treat this murder inquiry like any other. The dignity of the victim as a human being deserves no less, Marco believes. 

Early on, the investigation takes unexpected turns. Homeless people don’t like dealing with the police, but the ones who knew the victim seem especially wary. They also make themselves scarce, and they know where to go to stay out of the police’s sight. The problem is, the murderer also knows, and the homeless man died for a very specific reason – a reason that will lead Marco and his team into more murders, fraud, and corruption. 

 

Stephen Puleston

Dead of Night by Stephen Puleston is the fifth novel in the DI John Marco series, and it takes a decided turn toward social issues (like homelessness) far more than its predecessors. The reader sees homeless people through the eyes of a policeman who feels compassion for the people experiencing it as much as he feels anger toward the people who take advanrage of them – and sometimes kill them.

 

Puleston publishes two series of Welsh police detective stories. Detective Inspector Ian Drake is with the North Wales Police Service, and Detective Inspector John Marco is with the South Wales Police Service. The author originally trained and practiced as a; solicitor/lawyer. He also attended the University of London. He lives in Wales, very close to where his fictional hero lives and works.

 

Dead of Night is a solid police procedural as well as a good story. The reader experiences not only the occasional excitement of police detective work but the more common tedium of plugging away daily, chasing one lead after another, dealing with uncooperative witnesses and potential suspects, sleepless nights, and police headquarters politics. Puleston tells a good, gripping story.

 

Related:

 

My review of Written in Blood.

 

My review of A Time to Kill.

 

My review of Another Good Killing.

 

My review of Brass in Pocket.

 

My review of Worse than Dead.

 

My review of Against the Tide.

 

My review of Devil’s Kitchen.

 

My review of Dead Smart.

 

My review of Speechless.

 

My review of Nowhere to Hide.

 

My review of A Cold Dark Heart.

“Somebody Told Me” by Stephen Puleston

Detective Inspector John Marco of the South Wales Police is just back from a three-week holiday in Italy. He’s called to a café in Cardiff, specifically to the storeroom. A body has been found, and the victim has been clearly executed, as in a professional killing. Marco’s assistant, Detective Sergeant Lydia Flint, recognizes the dead man as Felix Bevard, the owner of a minicab company long believed tied to drug trafficking, prostitution, and money laundering.

As it turns out, Bevard was just about reading to turn state’s evidence in a murder case – and on a former partner now serving prison time. It was the partner that the Wales police have desperately wanted to collar permanently.

Marco also discovers he has a temporary boss – his rather hated rival. And the rival turns out to have been one of the investigating officers in the murder case.

Somebody Told Me is the third DI John Marco mystery by Stephen Puleston, and it’s a winner. Puleston artfully combines crime investigation, police force politics, and Marco’s own romantic ups and downs into a satisfying police procedural.

Stephen Puleston

This novel is slightly different from its predecessors in that the reader knows who the likely culprit (or culprits) is. The puzzle lies in how Marco, Flint, and their team chase down the all-important “how” – the evidence. And it’s neither obvious nor intuitive, and will, in fact, require good old-fashioned slogging through the case.

Somebody Told Me is the last of three published DI Marco novels (and the last of six by Puleston). There’s word of another DI Marco novel in the works, and that’s a good thing. It’s a highly entertaining series.

Related:

My review of Brass in Pocket.

My review of Worse than Dead.

My review of Against the Tide.

My review of Devil’s Kitchen.

My review of Dead Smart.

My review of Another Good Killing.

Photograph: Night scene in Cardiff, Wales.

“Another Good Killing” by Stephen Puleston

Following his usual routine, a banker drives into a parking garage near his office. But he doesn’t make it out of his car. Someone stabs him with a stiletto.

And then an associate of the banker, who’d been involved with him on several deals, is found dead in his apartment building elevator. He’s been killed in exactly the same way.

Notes left with both bodies suggest they were killed because bankers get rewarded while the people suffer. At least two activist groups have been agitating about bankers and banking reform.

Detective Inspector (DI) John Marco of the South Wales Police isn’t entirely convinced that the activists and protestors are to blame. The first victim’s family isn’t exactly free from motives. And so Marco, assisted by Detective Sergeant (DS) Lydia Flint, has to examine whether the motive is familial greed, extreme activism, or possibly something else.

Another Good Killing is Stephen Puleston’s second DI John Marco police mysteries, and it’s a winner of a story. Puleston combines a topical theme (anger against bankers), the psychology of protest groups, and DI Drake’s ongoing political and personal battles to create a highly satisfying police procedural story. (Puleston has also written three DI Ian Drake of the North Wales Police stories.)

Stephen Puleston

And DI Marco has some personal battles. He’s a recovering alcoholic. He’s divorced and his former wife has remarried, but the son they share has a serious accident that lands him in surgery and the intensive care ward. He starts a relationship with an employee in the coroner’s unit, but he discovers that he may be compromising the integrity of his case.

And then there’s a third murder. And a kidnapping that hits a bit too close.

Another Good Killing will keep you guessing (and biting your nails) until the end, but it’s perhaps the best detective story Puleston has yet written – and he’s written some good ones.

Related:

My review of Brass in Pocket.

My review of Worse than Dead.

My review of Against the Tide.

My review of Devil’s Kitchen.

My review of Dead Smart.

My review of Speechless.

Photograph of the Welsh flag by Bob Williams via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.