The Dave Slater mystery series from P. F. Ford continues. In The Red Telephone Box, Detective Sergeant Slater’s partner, DS Norman, disappears. Norman has been taking secretive calls for some time, and Dave hasn’t wanted to poke into his affairs. Now he has to.

At the same time, a “new broom” has arrived in the police station in Tinton, Hampshire. Detective Inspector Goodnews (seriously, that’s her name) has been sent in to straighten out the somewhat chaotic organization of the department. Dave gets off to a rocky start with her, but gradually comes to appreciate her leadership qualities and detective skills. Also, she’s quite attractive, and they’re soon both hard at work denying to themselves their mutual attraction.

I’ve spoken condescendingly about the writing in this series, and in truth it’s not top notch. But there’s an interesting metanarrative in view here – minor subplots in the various books form an overarching narrative which (one assumes) will be made manifest in books to come. That helps keep the reader’s interest up. And author Ford isn’t afraid to mess with the cast. The characterizations, on the other hand, are a little ham-handed. Characters seem to do drastic things for inadequate reasons, just to move the plot along.

But I’m enjoying the series. I’ll read a couple non-related books now, and come back to Dave Slater. Mild cautions for adult situations.