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THROUGH THE RUINS OF MIDNIGHT
by Colin Campbell
Pen Press Publishing, August 2004
228 pages
6.99GBP
ISBN: 1904754546


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

I am a huge fan of the UK police procedural and have spent many an hour engrossed in the latest investigation conducted by some Detective Chief Inspector or Detective Sergeant. However, I don't recall ever spending any time with the lowly police officer. Thanks to THROUGH THE RUINS OF MIDNIGHT, that oversight has been corrected. And if Mick Habergham ('Ham') is at all representative of the average policeman, there's a whole untapped world awaiting the procedural reader that goes beyond the detectives in their suits.

After spending 15 years as a Scenes of Crime Officer, Ham has been thrown back into front line policing. He had to relearn everything he has ever known about the basics; and at times, it's still a struggle for him to remember it all. It doesn't help that part of him is distracted by marital problems and that he's trying to come to grips with the idea that he should divorce his wife Angela.

Essentially, THROUGH THE RUINS OF MIDNIGHT follows Ham and his partner Andy Scott through one Sunday night shift. You would expect that to be a peaceful time, but it's anything but. In fact, it's one crime after another, some of them mundane and some of them quite dangerous.

There's a mad knifeman; a public riot; various individuals battling with one another, domestic disputes, suicide attempts. And there's Ham facing the possibility of death -- since the book opens mentioning that this is his last shift, the suspense about what that means underlies everything that happens.

THROUGH THE RUINS OF MIDNIGHT was fast-paced; the events and characters felt realistic and true to life. The crimes that occurred were the small ones that are likely to occur on a typical police shift, not the serial killer or elaborate robbery of many procedurals. The conclusion of the book wrapped all of the narrative threads up a bit too neatly, but other than that, I found it to be an engrossing and satisfying reading experience. The focus on the front line policeman was a refreshing change, and the characters were carefully nuanced. Campbell writes with wit and assurance. I will definitely be chasing down the other books in this series.

Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, May 2006

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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