A gay, erotic male dancer who has received several threatening letters becomes frightened enough to contact the Shepherd's Bush police station. Detective Inspector Bill Slider interviews Jay Paloma a.k.a. Maurice McElhinney only to discover that Jay has gotten rid of all the letters. Not having any leads or evidence to follow up, Slider cautions Jay to be very careful, and bring any letters he receives in the future to him. Unfortunately, no more correspondence is forthcoming before Jay is found murdered.

Slider feels guilty for not responding more aggressively toward Paloma's cry for help. He begins his investigation at the club where Paloma was employed and quickly realizes that several clandestine operations are simultaneously occurring. Unsure whether any of these activities are related to the crime he is investigating, he pursues all leads. He is immediately warned off by superior officers.

Slider becomes increasingly more uncomfortable. He doesn't know if police officers are involved in shady doings, the club is the site for large scale criminal activity, or whether the murder he's investigating is related to either. Being Slider, he is not easily put off , but is considerably more careful about letting anyone know what he is doing.

The plot is well thought out and logical. The villain is a prominent character in the book, but does not become the obvious suspect for the reader until quite late in the story. There is enough action that the story moves along well, yet the author allows time for ample character development and description.

And the characters are so well drawn they seem to be real people. In Killing Time, a new character, D.C. Hart, is introduced. She has been added to the ranks of Slider's crew while D.C. Atherton is recovering from injuries. Hart is a "young, slight, very pretty black woman," who, having grown up in a lower class neighborhood speaks with a distinctive accent. As a result, she is quite effective in interviewing people who are reluctant to speak to Slider. Harrod-Eagles does a superb job of catching the flavor of Hart's accent, as well as her delightful personality.

Often in series books it doesn't really matter if the books are read in order. Although Killing Time can certainly be enjoyed independently, there is an on-going story involving the major characters which begins with Orchestrated Death, the first book of the series. It would be well worth the trouble to track down the earlier volumes and read them in order. A word of caution is in order, however. There are both British and American editions of each book and in some cases, the title of the British edition for the same story is different than the American.

Descriptive passages abound in Killing Time. The food in the canteen at the Shepherd's Bush station is aptly described by Slider's lover, Joanna:

"Something white… with little bits of something pink… I am eating, aren't I... It's so hard to tell without any sensory input, like taste or texture."

Even if the plot were ridiculous (which it's not), or the characters stick figures (which they are not), passages like these would make the book worthwhile.

--Andy Plonka