View source for The Body in the Mist by Nick Louth

{{infobox1
|title=The Body in the Mist
|sort=Body in the Mist
|author=Nick Louth
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Crime
|summary=It's the third book in the series but it reads perfectly well as a standalone.  It highlights some thought-provoking points.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=320
|publisher=Canelo
|date=May 2019
|isbn=B07P9G9T5B
|cover=B07P9G9T5B
|aznuk=B07P9G9T5B
|aznus=B07P9G9T5B
}}

Muriel Hinkley was walking her dog when she found the body on a quiet country lane, just south of Exmoor.  She didn’t recognise him - no one would for a long time as it was obvious that he’d been the victim of a hit-and-run.  He had no face - most of it was smeared on the road and when D I Jan Talantire came to look at the body she realised that there was absolutely nothing on him which would allow for identification.  All the labels had been cut out of his clothes and there was no wallet and no phone.  He was Mister Nobody.

It was not the same for the car involved in the hit and run though.  Barbara Arbuthnott reported it stolen from the care home where she was visiting her brother.  She and her sister had been playing Monopoly with him (despite his dementia he always won) and when she went outside the car was gone.  It was soon found though and she drove it home, annoyed only that it had obviously killed a badger.  It was Auntie Trish who rang DCI Craig Gillard to tell him that her sister, Craig’s Auntie Barbara was involved in a hit and run.  Would he mind coming to Devon to sort it out?

Such is the magic of rank that people think that you can sort problems out - make them go away - even when they’re not in your jurisdiction and you have no reason to intervene.  The problem was that Gillard had always been at the mercy of his aunts.  There was a lot of history in the Arbuthnott family of which Gillard’s wife, Sam, was unaware.  And so they set of for what would be the first of many visits to Devon and which would involve murder, child pornography and conspiracy.

I’ve yet again broken my rule of not joining established police-procedural series when I don’t know what went on before.  Yet again I’m glad that I did..  I was worried at first - Jan Talantire seemed a little wooden, but I warmed to her and the rest of the characters came off the page fully clothed and ready to play their parts.  And they had an excellent plot to work to.  It’s a slow burn, but totally compelling as I got closer to the end I really couldn’t turn the (digital) pages quickly enough.  It’s the first Craig Gillard that I’ve read, but it certainly won’t be the last and I’d like to thank the publishers for making a copy available to the Bookbag.

For another Devon-based crime story, try [[The Shadow Collector by Kate Ellis]].

[[Nick Louth's DCI Craig Gillard Novels in Chronological Order]]

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