Newly promoted DCI, Monika Paniatowski, has a gruesome murder to deal with on her first day with a severed hand turning up and her old school Detective Sargeant making clear he disapproves of female senior officers. The case revolves around a family bakery in fictional Whitebridge in Lancashire during the (I think) 1970s, certainly pre-mobile phones and DNA testing. Interesting characters and clever plotting which left me guessing the villian up until the end. ( )

I read #2 in this series, THE RING OF DEATH, at the end of last year, and liked it so much that I promised myself to chase up the first in the series. I'm so glad I did and look forward to reading #3.

You can put DCI Monika Paniatowski right up there with female sleuths. She's tough, gritty, and has lots of that "gut feeling" that characterises the best of modern detectives. Apart from being a woman, she carries a little extra baggage: she is a Pole, and once had an affair with the Chief Constable, who's determined he won't be seen as doing her any favours. She has a bagman, Sergeant Walker, who resents her and does his best to leave her out of the loop whenever possible, and the press are just waiting for her to make big mistakes on her first job. Monika would love to consult Charlie Woodend for advice, and even goes as far as doing some heavy breathing on the end of his phone, but this case with two severed hands asks for her best efforts. And she is not entirely on her own: Inspector Colin Beresford provides faithful support and she has won recent graduate DC Crane over to her side.

After tough, abrasive, Charlie Woodend, some think Monika might be a bit soft. But they soon learn differently. And she already has the pathologist and her local JP on her side, simply because she is a woman.

It was interesting being there right at the beginning, watching Monika establish her team, and put in place her own procedures. There's a touch of humour in the writing particularly in the descriptions of her management of her teenage daughter struggling with her homework.

Good reading. If you like Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope, or Helene Tursten's Irene Huss, or Aline Templeton's Marjorie Fleming, then you'll take to Monika Paniatowski. ( )

Fans of DCI Charlie Woodend may enjoy this book featuring his protegee, newly promoted DCI Monika Paniatowski. Having never read the first series, I found nothing special or unique about this first in a new series to keep me reading.
Paniatowski is a female DCI, fighting the prejudice of her male colleagues as she solves crime. Add a failed affair with a superior to complicate the issue of her promotion. It's been overdone for my taste. ( )