A review by balthazarlawson
The Last Dance by Mark Billingham

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Detective Sergeant Declan Miller is returning to work following the murder of his wife. He lands a new partner, who had been his replacement, Detective Sergeant Sara Xiu, and a murder case. Two men have been found shot dead in two rooms beside one another in a hotel. The problem is, one of them is the son of a local gangster, someone Miller suspects of being involved in his wife's murder. Miller's unorthodox style and joke telling quickly puts his new partner off side but they have work together to get the case solve. All the time, his wife's ghost haunts him.

Miller is annoying and I wouldn't like to work with him, but he is smart and good at his job. In many ways if he could work on his own he would. Coping with his wife's death isn't easy but he battle through in the hope that the killer is caught. Unfortunately that case doesn't seem to be making much progress and Miller has been warned to stay away from that side of the building.

I enjoyed this refreshing new character from Mark Billingham but this is just a set up for a follow on story as the case of the dead wife is still unsolved at the end. Will that be what this series is all about?