Cold Hands

Rating:
Summary: Good but not her best
Review: The suicide victim turns out to be Customs Agent Oliver Webb, who apparently decided to allow a train to kill him. However, the police think that thanks to a sharp doctor's observation, someone deliberately spread Oliver across the tracks to cover up a homicide by making it seem more like a suicide. Thames Valley Detective Superintendent Mike Yeadings learns that Oliver was working on a massive amount of counterfeit Sterlings bills coming in from Amsterdam when he was killed. The police also find out that Fraylings Court, home to the ailing Sir James Siddons and his financially strapped family, is the next major drop-off point.

Since the Siddons run a schooling-hotel for paying guests, Detective Sergeant Rosemary Zycyznski enrolls as a "student" to obtain insider information. Mike wonders if a family ember or two, a guest or two or three, etc., or both are involved in counterfeiting and homicide? Though he knows the importance of a mole, he worries about the safety of his undercover officer when the truth surfaces.

COLD HANDS, the latest Mike Yeadings police procedural, is a fine who- done-it that from the start with the murder of Oliver moves forward rather quickly. However, though entertaining and well written, the secondary cast, key to keeping an ongoing series fresh, never grips the audience as they lack depth. Mike remains a strong lead figure and Z is a wonderful "poker" player, however Clare Curzon's newest entry is very good, just not great, like some of her previous yields.

Harriet Klausner