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THE RULES OF MODERN POLICING – 1973 EDITION by Gene Hunt & Guy Adams Bantam, October 2007 128 pages 9.99 GBP ISBN: 0593060202 Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

If you didn't see Life on Mars on TV, you missed a treat (US readers, you have this delight to come, I understand . . .) A 21st century policeman finds himself back in 1973 Manchester – as the line went at the start of every show: "I had an accident, and I woke up in 1973. Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever's happened, it's like I've landed on a different planet. Now, maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home."

Sam Tyler, played by John Simm, was the out of time copper. But the show wasn't so much stolen as whacked over the head and abducted gleefully by Philip Glenister, who played the very un-PC DCI Gene Hunt. If you go and do an internet search for the show and the characters, you'll find a juicy array of quotes that made the show unmissable. Allow me to be self-indulgent and give you a flavour (which will also give you some idea what this book is like!):

Gene says to Sam: "I think you've forgotten who you're talking to." Sam replies: "An overweight, over-the-hill, nicotine-stained, borderline-alcoholic homophobe with a superiority complex and an unhealthy obsession with male bonding?" Gene's deadpan response is: "You make that sound like a bad thing."

As spin-offs go, THE RULES OF MODERN POLICING – 1973 EDITION is stacks of fun. It's done out like a textbook and belongs to DC Chris Skelton (he was the young dim one in the show), complete with comments in the margin and various defacings.

And yes, it's the gospel according to Gene Hunt – and you can hear the dulcet Manchester tones intoning the words of wisdom. There's pretty much a laugh on every page, although my favourite came during the section on getting suspects to talk: "I find scratching my balls and mentioning that their wife has more crabs than Blackpool front is effective."

If you haven't seen the show or the humour leaves you with a face like a smacked bottom, don’t buy the book! If there's been a big gap in your TV-watching after that final controversial episode, then THE RULES OF MODERN POLICING – 1973 EDITION will go a little way to easing your withdrawal symptoms until the 1980s spin-off Ashes to Ashes hits our screens.

Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, November 2007

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)

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