For Reasons Unknown (DCI Matilda Darke Thriller, #1)

by Michael Wood

I've been reading Robert Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite series and it's set me down the path of needing more procedurals. I stumbled across this in my Amazon searches and it fit the bill. I liked Matilda. She was a little bit of a mess but I enjoyed the case and the way she came to handle herself. Adele was a good friend to her and reminded me a bit of Betty Rogers in Motive (tv show). I kept picturing her with red hair. Which of course made me think Matilda was Angie Flynn. It was a whole thing. I loved the show and this reminded me of everything I loved about it. It's not particularly thrilling but it is a good solid mystery with enough twists and turns to keep me happy. There were a couple of plotlines that kind of went nowhere (why was the case box so empty? Where were all the witness statements, etc, etc. and (show spoiler)[what the hell was the whole thing with Ben Hales about - he just went nuts? Did he stab him? Was it a faked move by the other guy? Was he framed? It just kind of fizzled though] (hide spoiler) ) but it was decent enough to convince me to pick up the next one.