A rainy September in 1950s Brighton and both the criminals and the police are concerned about events. A prominent member of a local gang (and triple agent) has disappeared, a lunatic who decapitates policemen has escaped from Broadmoor and an eminent professor has been shot dead in local department store. Inspector Steine has returned to Brighton after being lauded a hero because of his killing of a gangland leader and he has a new secretary who has asked Mrs Groynes, police charlady and criminal mastermind, to keep out of the office and do the work she is paid for. A planned Christmas heist is now under threat.
This is the next in a very entertaining series set in Brighton. Truss has managed a wonderful 'faux-naif' way of writing which suits the preposterous plots and and lends a knowing innocence to the narrative. All together these books are delight, light but with hidden depths. ( )