My favorite book in this series so far. D.C. and his team investigate the case of a missing person, and D.C. deals with physical limitations. ( )

What makes for an even more intriguing mystery than the age-old proven "who’s done it"? Well, the age-old missing person enigma, for it leaves you wondering whether a murder was even committed. The mind boggles at the possibilities. You guessed it, I just find the missing person scenario the most compelling of crime mysteries. "Luck and Judgement", is the third installment of Peter Grainger's D.C. Smith series. It has a well-developed protagonist in D.C Smith who convinces as a clear-thinking, sober in mind and action detective, solving cases par excellence, and all the while, and refreshingly so, remaining kind and empathetic. All in all as solid a fare ( )

Third in the series. The DC Smith character is fleshed out a bit more. His character reminds me a lot of Jack Frost in the Touch of Frost tv series.
Jimmy Bell seems to have disappeared from a gas drilling rig in the North Sea. The company would like the police to think it was an accidental death, or even a suicide, but DC Smith is doubtful about that. ( )

A proper British murder mystery! ( )

Having listened to the first two in this series, I looked forward to this one. Although the mysteries themselves are self-contained, I strongly recommend reading them in order. The style is that of a police procedural but one in which the characters reappear and their behavior and reflections are important to the stories. Indeed, in this book, the mystery seems almost incidental to D.C. Smith's interactions with friends and colleagues and his introspective reflections on his life and those with whom he comes into contact.

The writing is sound, and I find the reading by Gildart Jackson is outstanding. My reason for giving only 3 stars is that, given its content, the book is too long (400 pages, or nearly 12 hours of listening.) Even though I much prefer mysteries to thrillers, these books are strictly police procedurals, in which the investigation and build-up of evidence is very slow and pain-staking. The first book, [b:An Accidental Death|19074261|An Accidental Death (D.C. Smith #1)|Peter Grainger|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385858274s/19074261.jpg|27100676], is about 250 pages or a little less than 7 hours of listening. The second, [b:But for the Grace|25069606|But for the Grace (D.C. Smith #2)|Peter Grainger|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1428764875s/25069606.jpg|44754602], is 300 pages or 9 1/4 hours, and this one is over 400 pages or 12 hours. The lack of action and extremely slow progress in the case made it
hard for me to keep track of what was happening and who was doing what. After a while, I ceased to care, altough I did finish the book. For the most part, the villains and their motivations were alluded to rather than experienced. The next book, [b:Persons of Interest|26012175|Persons of Interest (D.C. Smith #4)|Peter Grainger|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441636512s/26012175.jpg|45931953], is more like the second, about 350 pages (or 10.5 hours.) I'll probably give it a try at some point, but I need to give the series a rest for a litle while. ( )