Instinct

Henry Christie #17

by Nick Oldham

The thrilling new Detective Superintendent Henry Christie novel - Grieving after a huge personal tragedy, Detective Superintendent Henry Christie is trying to pull his life back together and thinking seriously about retirement – after all, he’s got the time in and he’d have a good life and decent pension. But all thoughts of a peaceful dotage are shattered when the phone rings in the early hours, and he is called out to investigate the brutal rape and murder of a teenage girl . . .

Genres: Mystery, Mystery Thriller, British Literature

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2012

About the author

Nick Oldham was born in Belthorn, Lancashire, in 1956. He has been a police officer since the age of nineteen, spending the majority of his service in operational roles, before retiring in 2005. He lives with his partner, Belinda, on the outskirts of Preston.

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating British detective story ranging from police-procedural in Lancashire to people-running in the Gambia and Gran Canaria with a stop in the Magreb city of Nouadhibou, most famous as the boat graveyard of the world. I love books that have well-plotted-and-paced stories but also feed my hunger for new information about the world. Detective Superintendent Henry Christie never came completely to life for me, maybe partly because of a John-Rebus-like laid-back approach, but the renegade Boone did, and the beautiful Michelle did, too. Dear Christie's endless "shall I or shan't I retire" was boring but the tug of war between the police and MI5 was convincing and telling. The cast of characters was a bit hard to keep straight, although the terrorists were clearly front and center, but the plot was exciting enough to propel this page-turner all the way to the end.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

First introduction to this author and enjoyed his style. You could carp about having to believe six implausible things before breakfast in terms of the plot threads, but somehow they are a believable narrative and as we know in real life, scenarios often do come together more by coincidence than planning. Looking forward to reading more of this author.

[Val Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nick Oldham was born on 26 April, 1956 in Belthorn, Lancashire, England. He was a police officer from the age of nineteen before retiring in 2005. He spent the majority of his service in operational roles and now lives with his partner, Belinda, on the outskirts of Preston.

Instinct is the seventeenth book in Nick Oldham's series of books featuring his character, Detective Superintendent Henry Christie novel. Henry Christie investigates crimes in northern England. The book featured in the "new books" section of my library. I enjoy crime fiction, so I picked it up as I had not read anything by this author previously. Nick Oldham tells an unembellished and straight forward police story. However, there are lots of details to cache: that found me continually picking this book up at any moment I could snatch.

Detective Superintendent Henry Christie is a solid character and he anchors the story. Oldham gives readers an action-packed procedural crime thriller but his character Christie is far from perfect. He is grumpy, opinionated, short-tempered, and happy to operate outside the law when necessary. This does not endear him to his superiors or his colleagues. Still, his solve rate is outstanding, that saves his job time and again.

In Instinct Christie is grieving after a huge personal tragedy: his wife has died. He is trying to pull his life back together and thinking seriously about retirement. He would have a good life and decent pension. However, all his thoughts of peaceful retirement are shattered when the phone rings in the early hours, and he is called out to investigate a brutal crime, the rape and murder of a teenage girl, Natalie Philips.

This was a police procedural thriller, featuring evil Muslim terrorists, a tired but good cop, a semi-retired criminal, and the FBI. The investigation uncovers a possible terrorist attack on a local amusement park, leads to a young delinquent and a serial rapist, and occasions the reappearance of two old Christie pals, an FBI agent and a former cop convicted of corruption. Unexpected twists, a multifaceted plot, multiple subplots, and even a bit of romance add to the appeal of Oldham’s novel.

Instinct is filled with UK sites as well as exotic, foreign twists and turns as the story heads towards its conclusion. I really enjoyed Instinct and look forward to reading more crime fiction novels by Nick Oldham.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a standard police procedural thriller, featuring evil Muslim terrorists, a tired but good cop, a semi-retired criminal, and the FBI. It was an OK read, but nothing too unusual.

[Gary K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book from Nick Oldham

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

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