It really wasn't much of a murder mystery-especially since the culprit confessed the next day. Barry was just walking his dachshund, Ruby, through the park, when a young hood with two pitbulls crossed his path. One of the dogs scared Ruby so he picked her up and was challenged by the hood to a knife fight. The guy was clumsy, tripped over the other dog and fell in the lake, so Barry took his dog and went home. He didn't know until the next day that the hood died, and as soon as he saw the news, he went to the police station and turned himself in and was immediately locked up.
DS Declan Miller was on the case and did not believe that Barry committed murder. Luckily, his friend, the park keeper, kept a camera right where the incident occurred, and the tape corroborated Barry's story-he was free to go. But that was actually not great for Barry. It turns out that the guy who drowned in the lake was a very low-level drug dealer for the mob and he hadn't yet turned in the drug money-someone had to pay-with their life.
This is the third mystery in Billingham's Detective Miller series. Known more for his detective noir Tom Thorne mysteries, this new series is really more reflective of Billingham's comedy background-the plot is almost comic and Miller approaches his police work with a wacky sense of humor tempered by the tragedy of the loss of his wife. Whether he is having a conversation with his wife's ghost (maybe), ballroom dancing at the local dance club, or joking his way through a murder investigation, he is always an iconoclast, and the series is delightfully original. Pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy the show.
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