Shortlisted for the 2006 Duncan Lawrie Dagger. A brilliant police procedural with complex characters and plenty of black humour. The relationship between DCS Colin Harpur and his boss ACC Desmond Isles is wickedly funny and one of the many highlights of James's writing. This was my first taste of Bill James and I'm already champing at the bit for more.
A large, carefully plotted "cash-in-transit" raid goes hopelessly awry when armed policemen intervene to seize the perpetrators. Relatives and friends of the incarcerated are convinced that information—the date, the time—was leaked by the only man to escape before his arrest. Deputy Constable Colin Harpur and Assistant Constable Desmond Iles are delegated the job of hiding and protecting the informant and his family.
