One thing I like about travel is buying the “airport” paperback versions of new hardbacks you can get at Heathrow Terminal 4, and since I am on a trip to New Orleans at the moment, that explains why I just reviewed the new Rebus and now the new Deaver, The Sleeping Doll.

Deaver has a new heroine, Kathryn Dance, briefly introduced in the last Rhyme story, whose forte is reading body language. I read this in one sitting while flying from Heathrow to Houston (modulo a crappy stop at Detroit where we had to go through immigration and customs before reboarding the same aircraft - BA did not mention this on the website when I booked the ticket - grrrr).

Back to the new Deaver: I liked every aspect of it. The plot was twistier than the bad guy was twisted and twisting, and the focus on behaviour rather than forensics worked for me; I look forward to more Dance as well as Rhyme. I can’t publish my only criticism without danger of a plot spoiler, so ask me once you’ve read it, and with curious coincidence, the same criticism applies to the latest Rebus. One clue: Michael Connelly has used the same plot device in at least one Bosch story and I’m getting a little tired of it.

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