Changes

Harry Garrick had been a successful businessman until the car accident which cost him both legs and left him bedridden and beholden to his wife for even the most intimate functions, so there was not a ''lot'' of surprise when, six months later, he seemed to have taken his own life. One sachet of morphine granules, mixed in a pot of yoghurt had given him a good night's sleep. Garrick appeared to have crunched ten sachets of granules, if the empty packets were anything to go by. It seemed obvious that the case should be closed quickly: who would dispute a finding of suicide? Even DCI Serena Flanagan was just about convinced: it was just that the widow, Roberta Garrick, and the local clergyman, Peter McKay seemed suspiciously close. Perhaps a few loose ends needed tidying up before the case was closed?

I'm glad that I didn't realise that ''So Say The Fallen'' is the second book in the DCI Serena Flanagan series or I might not have picked it up: even when I'd finished the book I'd no idea of where in a series it might sit: Flanagan obviously has quite a backstory with a previous diagnosis of cancer, a vicious attack on her husband as he lay in bed, two children who seemed increasingly distant and a marriage which might not be on the rocks, but was sailing awfully close. Husband Alistair would like her to stop frontline policing (he'd like to stop having nightmares too) but Flanagan knows that the job she's doing is important to her, important to the community too. It's who she is: she can't give that up.

I read the book far too quickly: short chapters mean that it's all too easy to fall into the 'just another few pages' syndrome and I'll be going back to read the first book in the series. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

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