I have a great fondness for the ancient city of York in England, because of its Viking connections. So a novel set in York always appeals to me a priori. Which is why I bit on a deal on The Dead Don’t Talk, by Alex Robert, book 2 in the Jack Husker series.

The aforementioned Jack Husker is a York police detective. In the previous book, we are informed, he cracked a big case and saved lives, becoming a local hero. As The Dead Don’t Talk begins, all that has gone down the toilet. A case he thought he had neatly tied up, against York’s chief gangster, has fallen apart in court, leading to an apology to the defendant and a reprimand for Jack.

To put a cherry on top of it all, Jack’s girlfriend, whom he had lost years ago and won again in the previous book, has had enough of his workaholism, alcoholism, and bad temper, and moved out on him.

His boss “temporarily” reassigns him to Missing Persons, where police careers go to die. Studying a recent case, Jack smells a rat. An elderly couple who disappeared during one of York’s Ghost Tours are supposed to be vacationing in Spain. But Jack finds the story told by their niece and nephew, who have moved into the couple’s house, just a little thin. More troublingly, witnesses are turning up dead.

Suddenly he’s interested in his job again. He’s also interested in Lisa, a young female detective who helps him out.

My takeaway: The Dead Don’t Talk wasn’t awful. The prose was generally grammatical, though it was often flabby. A lot of verbiage could have been cut, making the book move faster, and what was left behind could have done with some sharpening: “…her eyes fiery and offering the look of someone with an axe to grind,” for instance, is a pretty banal construction. In another place, the author writes, “Her fire would be tempered until Lang appeared.” In context, the meaning is that this woman would remain furious until Lang comes to cool her down. But that’s the opposite of what “tempered” means.

Also, Jack Husker is one of the less appealing heroes I’ve come across in a book recently. He’s sour-tempered and prone to pulling petty practical jokes, which just makes him unpopular at work. Yet we’re told that Lisa his associate, who is, we’re informed, quite attractive, finds him sexually fascinating – even though he’s described as considerably older than her, short, and overweight, as well as having a drinking problem. I know love is blind, but it’s rarely that blind in my experience.

I finished the book, and it did keep my interest, but I wasn’t sorry when it was over. I can only recommend The Dead Don’t Talk halfheartedly.