A Shot In The Dark

Lynne Truss Raven Books, 304pp, £12.99

Lynne Truss wrote the best-selling punctuation guide

Eats, Shoots and

Leaves andisa prolific writer of fiction, non-fiction, screenplays and radio dramas.

A Shot In The Dark is based on Truss’ Radio 4 comedy thriller, The

Casebook Of Inspector Steine. Superkeen new boy Constable Twitten is sent to keep an eye on AS Crystal, a vitriolic theatre critic, and before long he ends up with a murder on his hands. Steine’s deputy, the longsuffering Sergeant Brunswick, is soon pounding the streets of Brighton looking for suspects. Steine himself is a bit blinkered when it comes to crime and is not as clever as he thinks he is, but happily Mrs Groynes, the police station charlady who keeps everyone supplied with tea and cakes, is much cleverer than she appears. Set in 1950s Brighton, Ashotinthe

Dark is an intricately plotted murder mystery that’s darkly humorous and beautifully written.