Last Rites by John Harvey is the 10th book in his Charlie Resnick series of police procedural novels. In this outing Charlie’s team is struggling with a number of cases, including a prison escape, gun violence and drug-related crimes. Charlie himself is feeling rather low as his relationship with Hannah Campbell appears to be drifting away and he isn’t sure what his future will entail. Meanwhile he is drawing closer to ex-team member, Lynn Kellogg who is dealing with a family crisis and needing Charlie’s strength.

The narrative meshes solidly and tension builds as the story moves along. I have always found that this series fully embraces the concept of police team work. Although Charlie is the boss and oversees the direction his team is headed, much of action and detail falls on the shoulders of his team. Charlie’s town of Nottingham is on the brink of gang warfare and corruption in the police department is of real concern. The escaped prisoner is a violent, hard man who is a real danger to the community. These various threads are woven together into a cohesive story line and Charlie’s rumpled, world-weary demeanor is a comfort to both his team and the reader.

Last Rites was originally meant to be the last in the series although Harvey went on to write two more Charlie Resnick books later. There is a feeling of finality to this story as many past characters return to be updated and dealt with. This series has been a favorite of mine and I am happy that I still have two more Charlie Resnick books to look forward to. ( )

Apparently, only two novels with Charlie Resnick as the main character are left after this one. As mentioned in a previous review, Harvey improves these stories with each progressive novel.

He mostly sticks with his formula of taking threads that seem unrelated and then weaving them into a broad, interrelated tale.

I also like how he brings back characters from previous books that one feels as if he simply forgot about them.

I don't want to bring up other aspects of the story out of fear of spoiling parts of it, so if a person has enjoyed, this series, then keep on reading the novels and he or she won't be disappointed. ( )

A happy ending for Charlie Resnick, who'd have thought!? I have the new book to read though so maybe after all these years John Harvey has something else in store for him. ( )

i read this before and didn't recall it at all. hope it doesn't happen again. ( )

Despite enjoying John Harvey's Frank Elder books I found this heavy going and couldn't seem to connect with the characters. ( )