Customer Reviews
The best so far - By: P. Horrex, 31 Mar 2008 
Graham Hurley's Joe Farrady books are well worth reading. Its best to read themin order, but not essential, but that way you get to know the characters as they develop. Deadlight is the fourthin the series, & is by far the best that I have read so far. Towards the end, it was hard to put the novel down. Defintely up there with Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks (the best series that I have ever read) & Ian Rankin's Rebus. Highly recommended.
A consistently high quality... - By: bloodsimple, 25 Nov 2007 
This is the fourthin the Joe Faraday series, & shares the same expert eye, & keen sense of place, of the othersin this series. Hurley's Portsmouth is rough, uncompromising, with a brittle shell of aggression. Faraday is a credible character, failing to balance his private life as well as he manages the egos & politics of his colleagues.
Other police procedurals are more popular. Usually they have been brought to the TV screen, or they're bought by people who simply want Miss Marple updated. They don't want to deal with messy situations, compromises, stories that don't end neatly; or they want a book that somehow turns out well for no apparent reason. One of the beauties of Hurley's books is his refusal to provide pat endings, trite "lessonsin life" or focus-grouped finishes. His characters have more grit & resonance than the likes of Ian Rankin can ever muster.
You don't need to read these novelsin order, but it helps a little if you do. Whichever order you choose, you'll get the best police proceduralin Britain.
Portsmouth noir - By: Dr. Sn Cottam, 14 Jan 2005 A taut, gritty & superbly told contemporary British police procedural.
A prison officer with a unsavoury past is brutally murderedin Portsmouth. Of course this crime generates massive police efforts to solve it & the investigation takes the dogged but flawed Inspector Joe Faraday from London to Devon via Gibraltar looking for the killer. Set against the backdrop of a frentically busy police department & a chillingly realistic depiction of modern Portsmouth, Faraday must look back 20 years to the Falklands War & the deceased's naval service for the answers to the murder. Brilliantly juxtaposing the background Falklands conflict with the contemporary 2002 World Cup England v Argentina match, Graham Hurley catches the mood of a country, a city, a police investigation, an individual superbly. The twists & turns of the investigation, the blind alleys, the false leads, the personality clashes, the distractions are all really well evoked. This accomplished novel was the first Graham Hurley I've read - I'm looking forward to tackling the rest now. If you enjoy British crime fiction (or even if you don't) & haven't already made the acquanitance of Mr Hurley & Inspector Faraday already, do so - otherwise you're really missing something.
And isn't it good to see a quality modern crime novel, indeed any British novel, not setin London...
Another Graham Hurley masterpiece - By: , 26 Dec 2003 Graham Hurley may not have the following of some detective novelists, but surely this must change now! Deadlight is anotherin the series of Joe Faraday novels. Faraday is a totally believable character, he has faults, he has failed relationships & he has an over-bearing boss. But one thing he also has is a tenacity to work beyond himself & solve crimes with the resources at his disposal, & within the budget. These novels keep getting better, you just cannot put them down. Roll on number fivein the series!
