You can't be a good Kate Brannigan as a quick light read. ( )

Kate Brannigan is back, and this time it's personal!

This was the third outing for Kate Brannigan who works as a private detective, and is junior partner in the firm of Mortensen and Brannigan, specialising in investigating 'white collar crime' in the Greater Manchester area in the 1990s. The novel opens with Kate and her boyfriend Richard posing as a married couple seeking to buy a smart new sports car in a bid to uncover an internal scam being run by the network of dealerships. Everything seems to be going smoothly, and they collect the car a couple of days later. That is where things start to go wrong.

Although they are supposed to return the car, Richard, a rock journalist, decides to drive it to a concert he has to report on. Almost predictably, the car is stolen outside the venue. However, a couple of nights later, attending another gig in a different part of Manchester, Richard spots the car parked up, and, still having the keys with him, he decides to repossess it. He is stopped by traffic police a few minutes later, and as they find a package containing two kilos of crack in the boot, he is arrested and the police want to throw away the key. Brannigan is left to try to discover the truth.

Like the other Kate Brannigan books, this is a gripping and cleverly constructed story. Kate Brannigan is a very engaging, empathetic and plausible character and narrates with a wry humour. The action is fast-paced, with Kate mixing with a variety of characters from the seamier side of life. Val McDermid's later novels became known for their goriness, with victims suffering acts of macabre violence. Those books, including the series featuring Carol Jordan and Tony Hill proved very successful, and the violence never seemed gratuitous. The Kate Brannigan novels, however, don't go down that route. There are certainly some extremely unwholesome characters, but their crimes remain relatively conventional. A very entertaining and well-weriiten story. ( )

Exciting story, set in Manchester, which is fantastic for those of us who know and love the city. A private detective with lots of very good friends who will always help her out and an interesting life. Fast paced and interesting, amusing and light. A good read. ( )

As usual, a good mix of fun, suspense and investigation. You always hope the cases she investigates don't happen in real-life, but they probably do.

A real good read ( )