I believe this is the sixth in the Castlemere series featuring not unexpectedly, the police department of Castlemere, a small canal town in Britain. Previous entries include A Bleeding of Innocents, Charisma, A Taste for Burning, No Birds Sing, and Broken Lines.

As the story begins, a father is taking his teen-age son and daughter on holiday. He has rented a narrow boat and they are making their way around the Castlemere Ring. Moored in Castlemere, they decide to dine ashore when son Tom notices a rip in the canvas covering the chain locker, he can only foresee his father’s anger at having the craft vandalized. As Barry Lacey examines the rip, he notices an arm protruding from below, and realizes that what has happened is significantly more important than an act of vandalism. The body of a naked young woman has fallen through the canvas, prompting an urgent call to the Castlemere police.

The medical examiner determines that the cause of death was the fall into the chain locker, but the woman had been severely beaten prior to her death. Some clever footwork by Detective Sergeant Cal Donovan reveals that the body was probably pushed off the roof of the nearby Barbican Hotel. An engineering conference had been held at the hotel over the weekend, which included representatives from many foreign countries. Many of the attendees had already departed making Detective Superintendent Frank Shapiro’s job that much more difficult.

First, it is necessary to determine the identity of the dead woman. Surely her death must have some connection to the conference, and presumably one of the attendees. With the help of his able staff, Liz Graham and Cal Donovan, Shapiro interviews the organizer of the conference, Philip Kendall. Kendall soon fears his own life to be in jeopardy from an unknown assailant, and Shapiro is seriously injured trying to protect Kendall. Liz and Donovan are left to sort things out with direction from a visiting fireman whose help they initially find questionable.

The Hireling’s Tale combines an intricate, well woven plot with beautifully drawn characters, making it an excellent novel in both respects. The plot is fairly complex, but not difficult to follow. Although a bit gruesome, and definitely heartbreaking, it is altogether too believable. (O.K. the incident with Donovan in Shapiro’s beloved car might have been a stretch for one’s imagination) Still there were no loose ends or coincidences.

The characters are wonderful. In The Hireling’s Tale Bannister allows Liz a brief respite from her difficulties of trying to balance her marriage and career, and lets her concentrate on her job. Although she is conscientious to a fault, she unwittingly makes an error that almost costs Donovan his life. Donovan who is definitely not a people person, is forced into an intimate relationship with a witness revealing depths of his character little seen in previous entries in the series. Shapiro, in his fifties, long divorced, never remarried, finds himself curiously close to his former wife. Ms. Bannister does a superb job of making her characters real. All are basically good people, even the so-called villains, who are put in difficult positions, forcing to make tough decisions.

I have read and enjoyed all the previous entries in the series. As I reread The Hireling’s Tale (a book in which the title does have some significance), I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time. And it is not necessary to have read any of the earlier books to appreciate it. In particular, fans of Cynthia Harrod-Eagles’ Bill Slider series should give Ms. Bannister’s efforts a try since they have many admirable traits in common.

--Andy Plonka