Initially, it was thought that a murder had been committed and the perpetrator followed the axiom that the best place to hide a dead body is in a cemetery. The decomposition of the body, however, indicates that it was interred within six months of Nora’s death some twenty-eight years ago. The body is that of a young black man and it is probable that the billhook buried along with the man is the murder weapon.

The key to the solution of the murder seems to lie at the Flask, the pub owned and operated by Nora Tilden until her untimely death. Sifting through records kept by Detective Shaw’s father who led the investigation into Nora’s death, there is no shortage of suspects. Several young men with time on their hands and less than sterling morals head the list of those with whom Detective Shaw and his right hand man George Valentine need to talk. Small villages such as King’s Lynn are not known for their racial tolerance or for marriage between first cousins. Both of the aforementioned irregularities are associated with Nora Tilden’s extended family, providing several motives.

While not forsaking close attention to correct police procedure and use of current techniques for investigation, author Kelly writes with the flavor of the British village mystery of yore. The local characters, with all their eccentricities and charm, soften the brutality of murder done with vengeance and purposely conceived malice. Several deaths that occur later on in the tale might have been accidental due to age and fragility of the individual involved. Or maybe not? The clever scenario thus described adds to the feeling of a puzzle to be solved rather than deaths to be avenged.

The setting plays an important role in this mystery. Obviously the body relocation project prompts the discovery of the first body. Such projects demand terrain and climate uniquely found in certain areas of Britain allowing the author a teaching opportunity to inform readers unfamiliar with this part of the world. The author’s skillful command of the English language produces such descriptions as “…the quietness of winter. .it just sucks the life right out of the day, that blanket of suffocating snow.” Or “Visibility was fifty yards and falling, light leaching away, ushering in a premature dusk.”

Readers are treated to vivid descriptions of what it means to be a policeman. The mental demands of a enigmatic murder inquiry can be offset by “the sudden incontrovertible priority a rescue imposed on his other, more complex, responsibilities. It was like a release permission to live for a few hours a simple focused, life, uncomplicated by motive or concealment.” To be still doing the job but to be using strength and adrenaline rather than trying to develop new neural pathways provides a kind of relief.

The reader is invited to use his mind to develop mental pictures not only of scenery but of characters themselves. There should be no doubt in any reader’s mind what the youthful Nora Tilden looked like, though to be sure there are undoubtedly as many mental pictures as there are readers.

As with many British writers, Kelly has his own take on the typical Brit. For him Brits publicly avoid controversy. There are subjects that one does not discuss with others. One’s opinion of the character of nuclear family members is a good example. Americans would do well to remember such taboos when conversing with the British.

What sets Death Toll apart from the typical mystery is its unique blend of small town, almost locked room mystery persona with a simple yet correct attention to detail with regard to police procedure. In addition the story fits together seamlessly. There are no lucky coincidences allowing clues to be uncovered or explained. This latest addition to Jim Kelly’s Peter Shaw /George Valentine series can easily be read by those unfamiliar with the earlier books and appreciated by those lucky enough to have enjoyed their previous outings.

--Andy Plonka