In this mystery, Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard takes on crime in the London public transit system. There has been a rash of petty thievery and robbery, and one victim has ended up dead. Meanwhile, there are rumblings of strike action within the transit workers' unions, and the head of the transit police thinks there's something fishy about several instances of suicide on the Tube tracks. Gideon will certainly have his plate full in this book.

Overall, this was a satisfactory book. There are quite a few plot threads to juggle, perhaps too many at times, because I mixed up a couple of characters. But one plot thread was well done: that of the Seaside Strangler. I continued to enjoy the interactions between Gideon and his colleagues, who are more clearly defined than some of the more transient "civilian" characters. I also loved the angle of the London transit system, both buses and Underground.

The only thing that really annoyed me about this book was the occasional comments in the narration about "provocative" young ladies wearing sundresses -- there was no need for that adjective or sentiment, especially when the section is *not* being told from the perspective of a serial killer. Another unnecessary tangent was in the scene where the widow of the robbery victim has a heart attack and the elderly neighbour lady tries to administer first aid. The elderly lady, while trying to do CPR or whatever, somehow manages to find the time to comment favourably on the widow's figure. It reminded me of the lady in the movie "Airplane!" who sits beside Ted Stryker and makes comments about his ex-girlfriend Elaine's figure. It struck a strange note.

To sum up, don't read this first, but if you're already reading the series, this is OK. ( )

I've been working my way through these pioneering police procedurals and I've probably read enough for now. There is a sameness to them all as we are presented with the daily working of the London Police force, George Gideon's determination that only the best is acceptable, and the wide range of cases that he has to deal with.

They do make very acceptable short journey listening but they seem to follow a formula. There is little doubt that Gideon will eventually catch up with the crims although some suspense is created by whether he will do it in time to prevent another murder etc. As the blurb says, each book has several cases in it, and there is also some human interest in the form of Gideon's family life, and a picture of London life in the 1960s. In their day they would have made engrossing reading as they forged a pattern for police procedurals.

In GIDEON'S RIDE the cases are quite varied and Gideon is dissatisfied at the end because one murderer has got away for the time being. ( )