It was somewhat bitter-sweet to know that on reading this book, Joe Faraday is dead, and another series over. Which I confess is a lot of the reason for the delay.
The Faraday and Winter series has always been a slow burner in this household, quick to obtain, slow to savour, the characters at the heart of the books – Faraday, Paul Winter and Bazza Mackenzie real and vibrantly drawn. Because of that realness the fate of Faraday seems, unfortunately, so right, here is a man who always seemed slightly lost. His life validated by his job, his son and his relationships, he never seemed destined to be able to move on. Ex-DC Paul Winter's questioning of his colleague Mackenzie also makes much sense. As Bazza Mackenzie becomes more erratic, more driven, the blinkers come off and Winter seems to suddenly realise he's got to make some hard decisions. And Mackenzie himself. Standing for parliament is both a lunatic undertaking for a man of his background, and yet so apt. (Is it wrong to think that at least here would be a politician who everyone knows is a crook – without the need for a corruption enquiry?)
But that all makes sense in the prism of this series which has always been about right and wrong, about people and the choices they make, the directions they take. So it seemed fair to expect that HAPPY DAYS would settle some scores, iron out some wrinkles and make a few statements. Which it does, in an understated, almost reflective manner.
Perfect styling for a perfect ending (if there can be such a thing) to a much loved series.
Happy Days

As ex-drug baron Bazza Mackenzie runs for parliament, ex-cop Paul Winter knows that his time with Bazza must, at whatever cost, come to an end, in the 12th in this highly acclaimed series of police procedurals
DI Faraday is gone and the police are left reeling. As his boss attempts to limit any possible PR damage, his one time shadow on the force, ex-DC Winter, is ever more concerned that he may have made the biggest mistake of his life throwing in his lot with the city's drug baron, Bazza McKenzie—especially as Bazza becomes increasingly desperate and violent as his empire begins to crumble under the weight of austere times. And, in the person of DS Jummy Suttle there's a new will at the heart of the embattled police force to nail Bazza once and for all, the one man Faraday was always desperate to bring to justice. Graham Hurley's trademark authenticity has been allied to an ever increasing sense of drama as he charts the lives of his vivid characters and paints a stunning portrait of a city and a country at war with itself, a war which throws the police into the front line.
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