Cold in Hand
By John Harvey
William Heinemann £12.99
FT bookshop price: £10.39

Nearing retirement, DI Charlie Resnick is seconded to investigate a Valentine’s Day clash between rival Nottingham gangs, which gets personal. Shots injure DI Lynn Kellogg, Resnick’s colleague and lover, and kill a black teenager. Her father publicly blames Kellogg, causing an unprofessional red mist to descend upon Resnick. Another murder enquiry yields links to gun smuggling, while a cold-blooded execution, that might link both cases, packs adrenaline and emotional intensity into the subdued, procedural tone of Cold in Hand.