I am always looking for good police detective stories, especially a good British one. I chose this short story to give me an idea of the Harry Bingham’s series of stories featuring Fiona Griffiths.
Night Beat is a short story and prequel to Bingham’s Fiona Griffith’s detective stories. It tells of Fiona’s first night on the beat in Cardiff, South Wales with an experienced sergeant. Based on her petite build, Sergeant Jenkins has his own preconceived ideas about her ability and doubts she will make it as a police officer. Together they meet a range of characters as they go about their beat. Fiona learns form the old cop and he is starting to appreciate she has skills that will help her succeed.
I found the writing style interesting. Each chapter is written in the first person from a different characters point of view. At first I found this a bit strange but once I got used to it enjoyed this approach to story telling.
Night Beat didn’t give me much of an idea of how good or bad the actual detective stories are nor what Fiona is like as a detective but I did like her character. I think this has been written more for those who are already Fiona Griffith fans. Having said that I will certainly be starting with the first book in the series.
My rating (at this point) 3.5*
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