DI Ridpath Crime Thriller - Gripping Mystery Novel for Crime Fiction Fans

Being a fan of the Inspector Danilov series, I decided to give Lee's new series a shot. I wasn't disappointed.Returning to work after a battle with cancer, Detective Inspector Ridpath returns to work. His temporary duty is at the coroner's office, not CID. He finds himself working on a case he solved ten years ago. A serial killer - James Dalbey - was convicted of one Alice Seagram and sentenced to prison. When Alice's body is exhumed, the coffin is mysteriously empty. Worse still, more victims turn up with the same MO as Dalbey. Ridpath must get to work and determine if this is a new copycat killer or Dalbey was actually innocent in the first place. It's an interesting dilemma for Ridpath, in the sense that he could be reversing his best work.Ridpath is a damaged character, but not as badly as Danilov. It was an interesting choice to make him a cancer survivor, since it contrasts so much to our perceived image of Police work being dangerous. Despite being in a dangerous line of work, death can come quickly and linger from an unlikely angle.As with the Danilov books, the prose is crisp and clean and the pacing is quick and page turning. Lee does a good job at giving the reader a sense of Manchester and little details about the British Police and its internal politics. I could easily see this being turned into a BBC series as it has many cinematic qualities to it. Lots of great twists and turns to keep readers hooked.