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It’s been ten years since Martin Edwards last wrote about the great Liverpool lawyer, Harry Devlin, as the author instead has concentrated on establishing his Hannah Scarlett / Daniel Kind Lake District Mystery series with great success.

So, has the wait for Devlin been worth it? Oh yes and Waterloo Sunset can rank amongst the best of anything else the author has created.

No one expects to read their own obituary and Devlin never knew five short lines could be so menacing—someone wants him dead and he has only seven days to find out who. The terse notice of his death is out of place amid the hustle and bustle of Harry’s posh office off The Strand, but soon mysterious threats lurk in every familiar corner of Liverpool for the wary lawyer.

What is immediately striking about Waterloo Sunset is the tightness and dexterity of the writing. Zinging between Harry’s problems and those surrounding a murder hunt with consummate ease and clarity, the pace is relentless though never at the expense of detail or drama.

Then there is Devlin’s own laconic humour, which fits so well with the lawyer’s Liverpool environment it becomes possible when reading to imagine him propped up at the end of the bar in pubs such as The Slaughterhouse or The Corn Exchange.

With a variety of peripheral characters who succeed in adding yet further depth and intrigue to an already compelling story – and a sense of the unexpected on every page – Waterloo Sunset without doubt sees a welcome return for much loved solicitor and, also, adds further credence to Martin Edwards’s already iron-clad reputation as one of the best writers around.

www.martinedwardsbooks.co.uk

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