Review: A VIKING'S SHADOW, H. L. Marsay

• 
  This edition on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B094PMF95F
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tule Publishing (August 12, 2021)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 167 pages 
• Chief Inspector Shadow Mystery #2

Synopsis (Amazon)

The shadows of the past are never far away...

Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow is doing his best to ignore the madness of York’s annual Viking Festival when duty calls. The body of a wealthy businessman, who was playing the role of the Viking king, is found slain by his own ancient sword. The murder scene looks staged, but before Shadow can compile a list of people to question a second body is found. Shadow doesn’t have to look far for suspects—the victims were by no means model citizens.

John Shadow is a man of contradictions. A solitary figure, who shuns company, but is a keen observer of all he meets. A lover of good food, but whose fridge is almost always empty. He prefers to work alone but is ably assisted by the eager Sergeant Jimmy Chang. Together, the two men navigate a web of corruption and family drama to solve the murders before the killer can strike again.

My Take

Another quick and enjoyable read, just a little longer than the first in the series. The characters of  the detection duo are developing nicely, and once again the subsidiary characters are well fleshed out.

Although Inspector Shadow works out eventually who to arrest for the main murder, the author pinned it on a character that I would not have chosen. Shadow and Chang present two main themes in modern police procedurals: on the one hand, the older copper with years of experience that he combines with intuition, and on the other hand, the face of modern policing, enthusiastic, not afraid to ask questions, and keen to use modern technology.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read
4.4, A LONG SHADOW, H.L. Marsay