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