Only Murders in the Dales

Grimm Up North: A Yorkshire Murder Mystery (DCI Harry Grimm Crime Thrillers Book 1) by [David J. Gatward]I happen to be going to the Yorkshire Dales in September, and I came across this series on Kindle Unlimited while browsing for a UK Police Procedural to read. That it takes place in places I’m going to visit is, well, a little creepy, but as a fan of UK Police dramas, it’s quite good.

If you’ve ever had the eerie feeling watching All Creatures Great and Small that any minute a quirky DCI would show up to solve a grim murder, this will put your mind at ease. DCI Harry Grimm is the classic tough city cop sent to the country to chill, but trouble doesn’t have to follow him, it’s already there waiting.

At first, his secondment to the bucolic countryside populated by farmers and tourists seems like the perfect place to go stir crazy, but then a teen goes missing, and soon enough there’s a body by a lake and despite his new Superindendent’s admonishments to not disrupt the idyl of the dales, as if his IED scarred face wasn’t enough to do the job proper like, Harry just has to roll up his sleeves and do the job.

As the first book, it naturally introduces the recurring cast, all of whom turn out to be pretty credible cops, considering Harry’s expectations, and you have to wonder if the BBC might want to give this a look. After all, they’ve already got the sets built…

Very nicely done.