Murder in Court Three (DI Flick Fortune)

By Ian Simpson

Rating: 4/5 Stairs

This is my first outing with Ian Simpson, and it was delightful. This appears to be the third in a series of mysteries featuring Detective Inspector Flick Fortune. I was able to jump right into the story and the main characters without the background information of the first two books. You can tell that they have been working together for a while.

Murder in Court Three is very much a traditional mystery. The murder happens in the first few pages, and then we follow along with the team picking up clues and interviewing witnesses. This case is receiving some special treatment, as one of the prime suspects is Chief Superintendent Traynor. The department wants to investigate quietly and keep his name from the papers if possible, unless of course he is the guilty party.

To help complicate the case (and add a bit of fun for the reader), enter ex-Detective Inspector Noel Osborne. He has a definite (unfavorable) history with DI Fortune, and is in general just an unpleasant man. He reminds me a bit of Detective Chief Inspector Blair from the Hamish Macbeth books – always out to get Hamish, and blaming Hamish for his troubles. Inspector No manages to muddle things up for Fortune, and also ends up in his own mess as well.

The mystery moves along at a good pace, with clues slowly revealing themselves as the team continues to investigate. I will say there are a lot of characters in this book, and it can be difficult to keep track of all the connections. I was glad the author included an index of characters at the beginning of the book – I found that I referenced it a few times.

A well plotted case with interesting characters, Murder in Court Three makes for an enjoyable afternoon read. I plan on catching up with the first two books as well.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.