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Last year, readers who had been following Mark Billingham's detective Tom Thorne over a course that for many stretched back more than twenty years to the unforgettable SLEEPYHEAD may have been startled to learn that Billingham was launching a new series. When they opened the first volume, THE LAST DANCE, they discovered that it was indeed new with a very different detective, an altogether different tone, and even a new scene. Detective Declan Miller pursues criminals in Blackpool, not London, and his attitude toward both his superior officers and his colleagues is, put simply, complex.
Those familiar with Tony Johnson, the central character in Ricky Gervais' TV series "After Life," will recognize Dec Miller, though the two characters are not identical. But both have lost their wives far too soon - Tony to cancer, Dec to an as yet unsolved murder that occurred when his police officer wife Alex was on the job. And both appear indifferent to the effects their blunt comments have on those around them.
Billingham spends considerable effort in LAST DANCE to establish his protagonist and therefore the crime itself, in this case two murders in adjacent hotel rooms, occasionally slips a bit from sight. But by the last chapter, we have a good grasp on Miller's character, his vulnerabilities, his defences, and his appalling sense of humour. The result is an intriguing central figure for further development, one with a genuine claim on our affection. Happily, Atlantic Monthly has released a paperback reprint of the book to accompany the second entry.
This is what we see in the second installment, THE WRONG HANDS, where detection occupies a larger role. The action takes place only a few weeks after the first book but Dec has managed to establish an odd but apparently workable relationship with his partner DS Sara Xiu, whom he has nicknamed Posh for reasons explained early in book one. His colleagues are becoming increasingly irritated with Dec's endless joking, but are reasonably tolerant due to his recent loss and because he has retained his sharp investigative skills. This is just as well as the case begins bizarrely, with the discovery of a handless corpse followed by the appearance of a pair of severed hands that are not the corpse's. It is just the beginning of an ingenious plot speckled with odd characters and frequent surprises. There is, among others, a hitman fixated on the letter D, a mad welder, and a misbehaving Crème Egg.
Leavening all this is the presence of the dead Alex, who drops by now and then and with whom Dec discusses the case. He is perfectly aware that she is not really present but exists only because he misses her so much that he cannot let her go. Their conversations are very far from maudlin and without her, Declan would be far less attractive a character.
There are a few things that need a bit of attention, however. I was sorry not to get a better feel of Blackpool, somewhere I have never been. I am also a little worried about Declan's partner Sara Xiu, who comes a little closer to a stereotype - humourless, close-mouthed, and so on - than she ought to, but I hope she will blossom as the series continues. And I expect it will as it is certainly an original and entertaining addition to the sturdy tradition of the maverick cop who solves crime despite his rather dim superior officers.
§ Yvonne Klein is a writer, translator, and retired college English professor who lives in Montreal. She's been editing RTE since 2008.
Reviewed by Yvonne Klein, July 2024
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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