In the Company of Killers by Bryan Christy

G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 368 pages, $27

There’s a big hint about what the book contains in the “About the Author” section: “Bryan Christy is the former head of Special Investigations at National Geographic ….” It’s not very strange, then, that Christy’s main character, Tom Klay, is an investigative writer for “The Sovereign,” a clone of “National Geographic.” With those elements providing the skeleton for his story,  Christy has created a ripping good thriller and an exposition on the morality of world politics and globalization.

Klay first appears in our sights as he accompanies an old friend, Bernard Lolosoli, on a mission to catch elephant poachers on a protected reserve in Kenya. Tragedy follows and Klay has his next mission in life: to catch Ras Botha, a South African and the king of poaching and other illicit activities. Klay knows no bounds in his desire to see justice visited heavily on Botha’s head.

Klay has gotten permission and a cover story from his boss at The Sovereign to investigate Botha further in South Africa. It helps his boss is also his handler and recruiter into the CIA’s shadowy world of intelligence. Klay’s got resources behind him in his task.

In addition to what is going on on the world stage, Tom Klay is a complex character with a lot of past tragedies and worries shaken up into a ticking psychological bomb. Only, Klay won’t let the problems own him; he will own his life and will use the past to harden him into what he needs to be for his assignments. Before I mislead you further, let me say that Tom Klay is not a hired killer. His best weapons are his words and his work for the magazine.

The joy of reading “In the Company of Killers” is the trip from what you think you know to what is actually going on. On the way to the ending, there is a trail of sadness, enlightenment, satisfaction, a big case of the uglies, and enough hate and love to go around.

MBTB star!

Nighthawking by Russ Thomas

G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 384 pages, $27

Have you seen the British television series, “The Detectorists”? The main characters wield metal detectors, which they use to find pull-tabs, old toy cars, and the like, but very rarely anything other than rubbish. It is a charming series. The unlikely heroes are two gentle souls, Andy and Lance. They sweetly talk about personal issues. Andy is working toward a degree in archaeology, and in the meantime, holds a job as a roadside cleaner, or something like that. Eventually, Andy has a baby with his long-suffering girlfriend, the beautiful and intelligent Becky. Lance has an ex-wife who runs a new age shop in town. He still yearns for her, but she has a dull-witted, muscled boyfriend. It is the best series I’ve ever seen where not much happens. It is not a mystery series. There are no car chases or dead bodies, and the only “criminals” are of the slapstick sort. I’m going on about this at length because: 1) I love the show; and 2) there are detectorists in “Nighthawking,” the serious second book in Russ Thomas’ series, starring DI Adam Tyler and DC Mina Rabbani. The book was okay and there were parts I really enjoyed, but if you are going to be entertained by only one thing featuring detectorists, choose “The Detectorists,” the television series written by Mackenzie Crook.

In “Nighthawking,” right off the bat we learn a dead woman has been buried in the local botanical gardens in Sheffield. A person illegally trampling the grounds of the gardens at night has accidentally dug her up, or least dug up her hand. The police determine she was murdered, and after additional digging, determine she is a Chinese national attending university in the UK. “Chi,” as she was known, had been reported as a missing person, but scant attempt was made to find her, ostensibly because all personnel were pulled off to find the missing child of a local couple. Chi’s case languished until the grisly discovery by garden personnel after the detectorist dug up her hand.

Yes, it was unusual to find a dead body in the botanical gardens, but there is another oddity. Chi is found with two Roman coins placed on her eyes. They are very rare coins in mint condition. Someone buried her with treasure worth about half a million pounds.

Once again we meet DI Adam Tyler, who would rather find out who murdered/caused the suicide of his father than do his job. He gives his police assignments in the cold case department and as an additional hand in the murder cases of Chi and the little boy short shrift. DC Mina Rabbani's characterization fares better than she did in the first book. She still has a temper but her intelligence shows through more in this book. She becomes feisty rather than hare-brained. She is valued for her persistence, work ethic, and brains — finally — by her cohorts. She is also asked to cover for said cohorts as they hare off for their own reasons. Ugh.

Unlike in the television series, the detectorists in this book certainly are not charming. Soon it is revealed some of the detectorists have found a cache of Roman coins. Yes, the coins on Chi’s eyes have come from that very cache. How did some of the coins get buried with her? What happened to the rest of the coins? Did one of the detectorists kill Chi and, if so, why?

Also under the microscope are Chi’s sister Juju, who just had a baby and is the worse for wear because of that, and Ben, Juju's boyfriend and the father of her baby, who seems to spend a lot of time avoiding their home. They are the ones who reported Chi missing. There are hidden strains there, but do they have anything to do with Chi’s death?

I read the book to the end, mostly because I liked the new, improved Mina Rabbani.

Here's a link to my review of "Firewalking," the first book: https://mbtb-books.blogspot.com/2020/04/firewatching-by-russ-thomas.html