On Dangerous Ground

DI Handford #2

by Lesley Horton

When a young boy and girl are brutally murdered within days of each other, DI Handford and Sergeant Ali uncover not only the desperate plight of children trapped in Bradford’s harsh criminal underworld, but murderous corruption and twisted minds in the most respected sections of the community. Against a background of urban and racial tensions, Handford and Ali form a distinctly uneasy partnership, struggling daily to repress their mutual suspicion. But they must put aside their differences to probe the dark and seedy lives of those who hold positions of trust—and stop a cold-blooded serial killer from fulfilling his dreadful mission.

Genres: Procedural, Mystery, Crime

448 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Lesley Horton (1939-November 2018), was a British novelist and author of a series of crime novels featuring Bradford based Detective Inspector John Handford. Horton is a former schoolteacher who took early retirement in order to begin a career as a writer. She is also a past chair of the Crime Writers' Association.

Reviews

[Jann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lesley Horton's writing makes police work fascinating, even though it is often sheer plodding and working through the exercise of examining possibilities. Two teenagers have been murdered within days of each other, the girl a suspected prostitute and in the dead boys possessions is a strip of photographs of the two of them laughing and smiling together.

When one of their own becomes a suspect DI Handford is given the task of researching DCI Stephen Russell's (his superior) background which causes Handford a lot of embarrassment and worry. How can he do this without letting anyone else know? What if it turns out that the DCI is completely innocent and finds out the Handford has been delving into his past? It could put an end to his chances of promotion in the future.

Another difficult situation is that a local Pakistani businessman and owner of a major leisure centre is suspected of being a pimp and luring young girls into prostitution but he is a close friend of Sargeant Ali who is warned to avoid all contact with him. Not only that but their whole families are also good friends. Is this becoming an ugly racist conflict?

Many false leads are followed up until eventually the whole ugly mess is worked out and the guilty are brought to justice. This was excellent writing with nothing to interrupt the flow of the plot. There are hints of who might be guilty but it isn't until the end that everything comes to a head.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second in a series of which I've not read the first, which might have been what contributed to the slightly teetering nature of the solving of this crime. In the end. all my misgivings proved premature but I wasn't entirely convinced.

[Vivienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the November selection for my library reading group. It was the second in a series of police procedurals. I don't usually like to start series midway through though this did work well as a stand-alone.

The plot involves the murders of two teenagers that highlights the plight of young adults trapped in the criminal underworld of Bradford. The official line is that there is no child prostitution in the city, which blocks the investigations into these and other linked murders that appear to be the work of a serial killer on a dreadful mission.

Although quite a solid police procedural, I didn't find myself that caught up in it or inspired to find other books by the author. I think it was because the main character just didn't capture my attention as others have.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book.