What do you think?
Rate this book
Charlie Resnick #3
Cutting Edge
“If John Harvey’s novels were songs, Charlie Parker would play them. Cutting Edge sings the blues for people too bruised to carry the tune for themselves. Writing in a minor key to tell this moody revenge tragedy, Mr. Harvey creates characters of astonishing psychological diversity. Their voices are abrasive and often husky with pain; but in the end, they all sing their song.”— The New York Times Book Review Several members of staff at the local hospital have been seriously attacked at night with a scalpel. Charlie Resnick strives to find a connection between them before assault becomes murder.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
52 people are currently reading
325 people want to read
About the author
John Harvey
279 books204 followersaka Jon Barton, William S. Brady (with Angus Wells), L.J. Coburn (with Laurence James), J.B. Dancer (with Angus Wells), John B. Harvey, William M. James (with Terry Harknett and Laurence James), Terry Lennox, John J. McLaglen (with Laurence James), James Mann, Thom Ryder, J.D. Sandon (with Angus Wells), Jon Hart
John Harvey (born 21 December 1938 in London) is a British author of crime fiction most famous for his series of jazz-influenced Charlie Resnick novels, based in the City of Nottingham. Harvey has also published over 90 books under various names, and has worked on scripts for TV and radio. He also ran Slow Dancer Press from 1977 to 1999 publishing poetry. The first Resnick novel, Lonely Hearts, was published in 1989, and was named by The Times as one of the 100 Greatest Crime Novels of the Century. Harvey brought the series to an end in 1998 with Last Rites, though Resnick has since made peripheral appearances in Harvey's new Frank Elder series. The protagonist Elder is a retired detective who now lives, as Harvey briefly did, in Cornwall. The first novel in this series, Flesh and Blood, won Harvey the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger in 2004, an accolade many crime fiction critics thought long overdue. In 2007 he was awarded the Diamond Dagger for a Lifetime's Contribution to the genre. On 14th July 2009 he received an honorary degree (Doctor of Letters) from the University of Nottingham in recognition of his literary eminence and his associations with both the University and Nottingham (particularly in the Charlie Resnick novels). He is also a big Notts County fan.
John Harvey (born 21 December 1938 in London) is a British author of crime fiction most famous for his series of jazz-influenced Charlie Resnick novels, based in the City of Nottingham. Harvey has also published over 90 books under various names, and has worked on scripts for TV and radio. He also ran Slow Dancer Press from 1977 to 1999 publishing poetry. The first Resnick novel, Lonely Hearts, was published in 1989, and was named by The Times as one of the 100 Greatest Crime Novels of the Century. Harvey brought the series to an end in 1998 with Last Rites, though Resnick has since made peripheral appearances in Harvey's new Frank Elder series. The protagonist Elder is a retired detective who now lives, as Harvey briefly did, in Cornwall. The first novel in this series, Flesh and Blood, won Harvey the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger in 2004, an accolade many crime fiction critics thought long overdue. In 2007 he was awarded the Diamond Dagger for a Lifetime's Contribution to the genre. On 14th July 2009 he received an honorary degree (Doctor of Letters) from the University of Nottingham in recognition of his literary eminence and his associations with both the University and Nottingham (particularly in the Charlie Resnick novels). He is also a big Notts County fan.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
December 3, 2016
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b043x37nWiki description: Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick is the protagonist of a series of eleven police procedural novels by British writer John Harvey, based in the city of Nottingham. Charlie was noted for his Polish descent and love of both sandwiches and jazz. The first novel in the series, Lonely Hearts was published in 1989, and was named by The Times as one of the "100 Greatest Crime Novels of the Century". What was believed to be the final novel in the series, Last Rites, was published in 1998. However, in an interview on BBC Four on 7 November 2006 John Harvey mentioned that he was working on a new novel in the Resnick series. In an interview with the BBC on 20 October 2007, it was confirmed that the novel would be entitled Cold In Hand and would see Resnick retire from the police force. Cold In Hand was published in 2008. There were two TV movies made about Resnick, based on Lonely Hearts and Rough Treatment, for the BBC in 1992 and 1993, starring Academy Award nominee Tom Wilkinson as the character. Screenplays for both were written by John Harvey himself. Several of the novels have been adapted for radio, often appearing in the rotation on BBC Radio 4 Extra.
John Harvey's Nottingham-based, jazz-loving DI Charlie Resnick.
March 12, 2019
Another solid police procedural in this, the third of the Charles Resnick series. These are character-driven stories, which adds to my enjoyment of a series.
November 24, 2016
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
When a young house doctor is attacked on a deserted hospital walkway, the clues seem to lead nowhere for DI Charlie Resnick.
Tom Georgeson stars as jazz-loving Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick in John Harvey's 3-part dramatisation of his own novel.
With Sean Baker as Millington, Kate Eaton as Lynn, Paul Bazeley as Dipak and Ben Porter as Kevin.
Producer: David Hunter
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b043x37n
When a young house doctor is attacked on a deserted hospital walkway, the clues seem to lead nowhere for DI Charlie Resnick.
Tom Georgeson stars as jazz-loving Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick in John Harvey's 3-part dramatisation of his own novel.
With Sean Baker as Millington, Kate Eaton as Lynn, Paul Bazeley as Dipak and Ben Porter as Kevin.
Producer: David Hunter
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b043x37n
August 24, 2017
I don't get it? I should like it, I like the genre, I like the setting, I like the whole feel of the thing, but... I can't stand it. I can't stand the staccato writing style. It is like reading haiku or sentences, not a story. Pity :(
I realise this is totally subjective, so don't pay it too much heed. I read (listened actually) to 20% of it, then gave up. Not interested in struggling with books I don't like, especially when the struggle is a stylistic one.
I just finished a book by Homer Hickam. It was silk. This is pointy gravel.
I realise this is totally subjective, so don't pay it too much heed. I read (listened actually) to 20% of it, then gave up. Not interested in struggling with books I don't like, especially when the struggle is a stylistic one.
I just finished a book by Homer Hickam. It was silk. This is pointy gravel.
November 25, 2016
16 NOV 2016 - a recommendation through Bettie. Thank you.
25 NOV 2016 - a good listen-to. Catch it here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b043x37n
25 NOV 2016 - a good listen-to. Catch it here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b043x37n
December 19, 2019
I'm really thinking a 2.5 stars for the choppy writing style that made it difficult to know where I was & whom I was with in the story, especially in the first 6-8 chapters. I have never read anything from this series and my inattention had me pick this up without realizing that this was the third in the series & thus I didn't know all the characters that work with the MC Inspector Resnick. Some stereotypical characters but also a few more interesting personalities among the group.
I liked the MC & the storyline was fine. Someone is targeting people from the local hospital, severely wounding the first two and the third, apparently unconnected, fatality. In addition, there is a creep preying on a number of female characters of which early in the story included an assault & rape. Is there any connection?
I knew most of the British terminology but there were a few times, I wasn't sure what a word meant. It just added to the difficulty in the flow of the story for me.
I liked the MC & the storyline was fine. Someone is targeting people from the local hospital, severely wounding the first two and the third, apparently unconnected, fatality. In addition, there is a creep preying on a number of female characters of which early in the story included an assault & rape. Is there any connection?
I knew most of the British terminology but there were a few times, I wasn't sure what a word meant. It just added to the difficulty in the flow of the story for me.
March 17, 2019
In this third entry in the Charlie Resnick series, Harvey tries on a more straightforward mystery -- someone is slashing members of the hospital medical staff and leaving them for dead; first a young intern, then a male nurse, and then a seemingly unrelated victim who is a student at the local University, but who turns out to have been an anesthesia assistant at the same hospital.
The trick is finding the right suspect. The first victim's new girlfriend has a jealous ex-boyfriend who is a doctor and who is brutal, but seems to have Red Herring stamped across the middle of his forehead. The other suspect doesn't emerge until later in the book, and his involvement hinges on a rare medical phenomenon that you'll have to read the book to find out about.
Mixed in is a subplot in which Resnick takes in a formerly brilliant jazz sax player who is now a chronic alcoholic and suffers him ruining his wardrobe and botching the cooking. It's an interesting but not gripping piece of the book and much of the time I could have done without it. Nevertheless, the conclusion is heart-thumping and there is just enough of the other officers' life stories sprinkled in to give Cutting Edge the usual well rounded Harvey treatment.
The trick is finding the right suspect. The first victim's new girlfriend has a jealous ex-boyfriend who is a doctor and who is brutal, but seems to have Red Herring stamped across the middle of his forehead. The other suspect doesn't emerge until later in the book, and his involvement hinges on a rare medical phenomenon that you'll have to read the book to find out about.
Mixed in is a subplot in which Resnick takes in a formerly brilliant jazz sax player who is now a chronic alcoholic and suffers him ruining his wardrobe and botching the cooking. It's an interesting but not gripping piece of the book and much of the time I could have done without it. Nevertheless, the conclusion is heart-thumping and there is just enough of the other officers' life stories sprinkled in to give Cutting Edge the usual well rounded Harvey treatment.
July 29, 2017
I don't really have an issue with the book but i just wasn't engaged. I like Resnick but we never really find out why he and his wife split. There is a scene where she comes back but it all seems rather stilted and after the whole novel of trying to get to see him and making a scene at the local polish club when she eventually gets him alone it is almost a none scene.
The internal politics of the hospital are not investigated in any detail and final clue that leads to us finding the killer is reveal due to the actions of a woman scorned.
The whole things come together and the scenes with Calvin and his Dad never really made me think they were involved. The chapter might have been called 'Red Herring' althoughI might be feeding you a red herring there.
Anyway it all comes together in the end and everything works out but unfortunately I didn't really care.
The internal politics of the hospital are not investigated in any detail and final clue that leads to us finding the killer is reveal due to the actions of a woman scorned.
The whole things come together and the scenes with Calvin and his Dad never really made me think they were involved. The chapter might have been called 'Red Herring' althoughI might be feeding you a red herring there.
Anyway it all comes together in the end and everything works out but unfortunately I didn't really care.
November 21, 2023
John Harvey’s Nottingham-set Resnick police procedural novels were a favourite of mine back in the Nineties, but there were quite a few of them that I seem to have missed at the time. Cutting Edge was the third in the sequence, a twisted tale of medical malpractice and revenge with a deftly handled subplot centred around male entitlement and violence against women that, unfortunately, feels completely contemporary thirty years after the novel was first published. Harvey excels in his representation of the grimy city underworld, of dodgy bars, sad homeless shelters, stinking public lavatories, to such an extent that the taste and smell of the place lingers after finishing the book.
April 3, 2017
Staff from a hospital are attacked and seriously injured before a death occurs. Cover-ups and closing of ranks hinder the investigation before Resnick make an arrest. A tale of revenge bungled surgical procedures and a young man's arrogance and another man's unhappiness. There is also Resnick's wife.
April 19, 2017
Dreary mystery about scalpel killings of hospital staff.
July 8, 2021
⭐️3.5⭐️
February 6, 2023
An excellent introduction to this author and his characters. Well written with just the right amount of detail and complexity. I was impressed and will be looking for more from this author.
August 11, 2013
I skipped #2 so this may be a "duh" but #3 was MUCH better than #1! lol The characters seem to have grown into themselves and the whole flow of the story was much smoother. I'm loving this series!
April 6, 2015
Another gritty Charlie Resnick story in Nottingham -- well told, lots of suspense, some interesting characters.
August 28, 2019
⭐️ 3.5 stars ⭐️
April 10, 2020
A decent enough gritty British cop thriller but is never more than run-of-the-mill.
I wasn't won over by way of the story flitted from paragraph to paragraph.
The book is set against a background of jazz music which evokes the dark mystery that unfolds as the pages progress.
I also did like the authors observations,
" A youth with gelled green hair and a gold ring through his left nostril was sitting opposite the inquiry window, dribbling blood and snot into his hands. At the window a middle-aged man in a suit, navy blue pinstripe, was explaining to the officer on duty exactly where he had left his car, exactly why he’d been stupid enough to leave his briefcase on the back seat. Inside the next set of doors, a uniformed constable was squatting down beside a girl of nine or ten, trying to get her to spell out her address. Somebody else was singing the Red Flag. Not, Resnick assumed, someone on the Force"
"There must be some people, Resnick thought, for whom a telephone ringing in" The middle of the night doesn’t spell bad news."
Sheets of white paper, smeared with ketchup or curry sauce, littered the pavements; crushed cartons still holding cold gravy, mushy peas."
Those & many others really prevented the book becoming less than run-of-the-mill!
The book does contain a massive error however
" Some enterprising soul had squirted WD 40 through the letter-box to stun a pair of angry Rottweilers, picked the lock, and walked away with several thousand pounds’ worth of jewellery and furs and the dogs’ studded collars as souvenirs"
The owners first phone call had been to the PDSA, the second to the police.
If the owner had several thousand pounds worth of jewellery the PDSA wouldn't entertain the owner. It's a benefit only organisation. Its just little mistakes like that, that jar! It suggests poor research from the author.
Towards the end it feels as if the story just runs out of energy.
Nonetheless, this was my first read of a novel by the author and I think I'd certainly read another.
I wasn't won over by way of the story flitted from paragraph to paragraph.
The book is set against a background of jazz music which evokes the dark mystery that unfolds as the pages progress.
I also did like the authors observations,
" A youth with gelled green hair and a gold ring through his left nostril was sitting opposite the inquiry window, dribbling blood and snot into his hands. At the window a middle-aged man in a suit, navy blue pinstripe, was explaining to the officer on duty exactly where he had left his car, exactly why he’d been stupid enough to leave his briefcase on the back seat. Inside the next set of doors, a uniformed constable was squatting down beside a girl of nine or ten, trying to get her to spell out her address. Somebody else was singing the Red Flag. Not, Resnick assumed, someone on the Force"
"There must be some people, Resnick thought, for whom a telephone ringing in" The middle of the night doesn’t spell bad news."
Sheets of white paper, smeared with ketchup or curry sauce, littered the pavements; crushed cartons still holding cold gravy, mushy peas."
Those & many others really prevented the book becoming less than run-of-the-mill!
The book does contain a massive error however
" Some enterprising soul had squirted WD 40 through the letter-box to stun a pair of angry Rottweilers, picked the lock, and walked away with several thousand pounds’ worth of jewellery and furs and the dogs’ studded collars as souvenirs"
The owners first phone call had been to the PDSA, the second to the police.
If the owner had several thousand pounds worth of jewellery the PDSA wouldn't entertain the owner. It's a benefit only organisation. Its just little mistakes like that, that jar! It suggests poor research from the author.
Towards the end it feels as if the story just runs out of energy.
Nonetheless, this was my first read of a novel by the author and I think I'd certainly read another.
November 11, 2016
I have read one other book in the Charlie Resnick series which prompted me to look for another. This is an early entry and it is pretty darned compelling. The author has an unusual style which takes some getting used to as it appears that characters keep popping up that don't have anything to do with the main narrative. One soon learns that maybe they do and Harvey weaves it all together beautifully.
Employees of a local hospital are being attacked with what appears to be a scalpel and one death has already occurred. Resnick and his squad are desperately trying to piece together the paucity of clues to catch the killer before (s)he strikes again. The author also does a good job painting a word picture of the personal lives of Resnick and the investigating officers/constables. A quick but enjoyable read for a rainy day.
Employees of a local hospital are being attacked with what appears to be a scalpel and one death has already occurred. Resnick and his squad are desperately trying to piece together the paucity of clues to catch the killer before (s)he strikes again. The author also does a good job painting a word picture of the personal lives of Resnick and the investigating officers/constables. A quick but enjoyable read for a rainy day.
December 7, 2025
When you look at the amount of days it took me to finish this book of 'only' just over 300 pages, it must be clear that this book and I were not a good match.
In general I like thrillers, detectives or police procedurals, but this one? I don't know, but I just missed the point for most of the book.
At first I thought, maybe I need a bit more background, just a few more pages and then I'll get what is going on, who's who, doing what and, somewhere along the way I'll also unravel why it was done. But it turned out, the few more pages was the whole book save 50 pages or so.
And it was a good ending, but unfortunately it didn't make up for all the pages I struggled to read.
I think I'll skip the other books from this series. Maybe even avoid this author all together.
In general I like thrillers, detectives or police procedurals, but this one? I don't know, but I just missed the point for most of the book.
At first I thought, maybe I need a bit more background, just a few more pages and then I'll get what is going on, who's who, doing what and, somewhere along the way I'll also unravel why it was done. But it turned out, the few more pages was the whole book save 50 pages or so.
And it was a good ending, but unfortunately it didn't make up for all the pages I struggled to read.
I think I'll skip the other books from this series. Maybe even avoid this author all together.
March 4, 2019
Harvey's writing is seamless and elegant, like a hypodermic slipping under my skin and sending me on a smooth trip into Charlie Resnick's conflicted world. His pleasures are particular, food, coffee, jazz, and his agonies are shared, reluctantly, while his solid guidance and support for his crew of sergeants and constables is as reliable as the rain, which falls throughout every book. Noir? these are no cardboard figures, their flesh and spirits are more than 3-dimensional, they plumb deep and wide without fluttering off into fantasy. It is all too real, and tugs at my heart.
September 15, 2025
This story has a character, Ian Carew, that we love to hate besides DC Mark Divine, both of them mysogenistic bastards. DC Lynn Kellogg sees them for what they are, and it's good to see that she assumes a more assertive role in this, the third in the series. The investigation takes Resnick and his team in different directions, but the inclusion of scenes of young Calvin and his father make their involvement pretty obvious. The appearance of Resnick's ex-wife is puzzling, and suggests that there is more to come on that front.
November 17, 2017
Once again a solid 3 stars. Are these John Harvey books blockbusters? No- just entertaining reading about people who happen to be involved in crimes. This story line is interesting and the actual perpetrator (of the central group of crimes) is found almost by accident. No I'm not going to retell the story but I will say that I really like the way John Harvey ends his books. Makes me want the next in the series immediately. Unfortunately they are older and have to hunt them down ...
January 22, 2020
3 stars n the basis I might listen to another Resnick novel. Easy to listen to when you can't sleep although knifings and rape aren't the best for subsequent dreams. It's just that i can fade in and out of a CD and later relisten to fill in the gaps, take several weeks or even months to listen to the whole thing depending on my sleep patterns. Did I hear the whole thing - no idea but I got enough of the plot to follow it.
November 15, 2017
Once again a solid 3 stars. Are these John Harvey books blockbusters? No- just entertaining reading about people who happen to be involved in crimes. This story line is interesting and the actual perpetrator (of the central group of crimes) is found almost by accident. No I'm not going to retell the story but I will say that I really like the way John Harvey ends his books. Makes me want the next in the series immediately. Unfortunately they are older and have to hunt them down ...
DD@Phila
DD@Phila
June 15, 2023
▍#cuttingedge
上次讀過了#寂寞芳心 之後就好喜歡芮尼克系列，這系列的書脊設計真的很可愛♡♡♡ 很想全套買回家收藏的那種可愛
芮尼克我覺得在懸疑推理小說中屬於非常特別的主角，比起其他帥氣俐落又常常有些怪癖難以親近的偵探，芮尼克簡直就是鄰家大叔，或者在我的想像中根本大樓管理員那種型😂
在這系列中事件的比例就沒那麼大，也比較不會有驚悚感，充滿柔情和人性（還有無所不在的爵士樂和貓）雖然我超愛重口味，芮尼克系列也是我的愛（雜食性讀者）
超喜歡這則推薦文⤵︎ ︎
「約翰‧哈威的小說宛如一首優美的爵士樂，是爵士樂大師查理‧帕克會演奏的曲子。《刀鋒邊緣》以獨樹一格的曲調，為傷痕累累的人唱出幽幽藍調。約翰‧哈威以這個出人意表的故事，刻劃出人心的幽微莫測。」──《紐約時報》書評
上次讀過了#寂寞芳心 之後就好喜歡芮尼克系列，這系列的書脊設計真的很可愛♡♡♡ 很想全套買回家收藏的那種可愛
芮尼克我覺得在懸疑推理小說中屬於非常特別的主角，比起其他帥氣俐落又常常有些怪癖難以親近的偵探，芮尼克簡直就是鄰家大叔，或者在我的想像中根本大樓管理員那種型😂
在這系列中事件的比例就沒那麼大，也比較不會有驚悚感，充滿柔情和人性（還有無所不在的爵士樂和貓）雖然我超愛重口味，芮尼克系列也是我的愛（雜食性讀者）
超喜歡這則推薦文⤵︎ ︎
「約翰‧哈威的小說宛如一首優美的爵士樂，是爵士樂大師查理‧帕克會演奏的曲子。《刀鋒邊緣》以獨樹一格的曲調，為傷痕累累的人唱出幽幽藍調。約翰‧哈威以這個出人意表的故事，刻劃出人心的幽微莫測。」──《紐約時報》書評
June 23, 2025
This is the sort of cosy thriller one could enjoy on a rainy evening. Although I liked the character-driven plot and the smooth conclusion, I found myself waiting for the "twist" until the very end. I guess I should've known better seeing this is written as a police investigation. And in this sense, I guess I should commend it for being realistic too.
September 27, 2017
3.7/5 stars. This book felt familiar to me. I either read it before and forgot most of the details, or I read another book that had similarities. The writing was solid, and I will read the next in the series.
October 13, 2020
Mystery series - Harvey has Resnick wandering through hospitals as a slasher threatens staff. A fiew interesting red herrings keeps it moving along. Lots of medical staff referenced and not a single pharmacist.
No Canadian or pharmacy references.
No Canadian or pharmacy references.
March 18, 2022
unsentimental
Better than the first book, with a slightly different style that feels different from anyone else’s. Hard to pin it down. There’s a series of scenes, also, that appear to have no apparent connection to the rest of the mystery. But be patient.
Better than the first book, with a slightly different style that feels different from anyone else’s. Hard to pin it down. There’s a series of scenes, also, that appear to have no apparent connection to the rest of the mystery. But be patient.
July 13, 2017
Top-notch British mystery. Really enjoyed DI Resnick and his squad. Definitely want to check out the rest of the series!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews