I'm sure I've already told the story of how I came to acquire my copy of The Hollow Man. I've noticed I repeat myself a lot on this blog (not deliberately). The Hollow Man is the first book in the Nick Belsey series by Oliver Harris.
In The Hollow Man Nick, a London detective, has stolen a car from another police station (not the one in which he works) and crashed it, so he's in deep trouble and about to lose his job when he is sent to investigate an apparent suicide. The dead man, Alexei Devereaux, was incredibly wealthy and Nick decides he must figure out how to steal Devereaux's money so he can escape the country. But, something doesn't feel quite right about the suicide and the further he digs into Devereaux's life, the more tangled the web Nick finds.
I think one of the things I adore about the Nick Belsey series is that the stories are delightfully complex. I doubt I'll ever manage to guess what really happened before Nick has unravelled the mystery in one of these books. I also am quite fond of Nick. He's not just a little flawed; he's a mess -- clever and fascinating and horrid. Fortunately, he tends to get caught when he does something illegal, which doubles the fun. "How is Nick going to get out of this pickle?" is a question that keeps popping up. I particularly loved the ending of The Hollow Man.
If you like a London setting, the Nick Belsey series is loads of fun for the way Nick dashes around all over the city. I think when I reread them and read the third book (which the author told me he was close to finishing, a few weeks ago), I'll keep a London map or the A-Z handy.
Highly recommended, especially to people who enjoy a complex mystery, an unusual and complicated character and/or a London setting.
Related review:
Deep Shelter (Nick Belsey #2) by Oliver Harris
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