Turn a Blind Eye

Turn a Blind Eye is the third installment in the gripping story of Detective Inspector William Warwick, by the master storyteller and #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Clifton Chronicles. Newly promoted to Detective Inspector, William Warwick is tasked with a dangerous new line of work, to go undercover and expose crime of another kind: corruption at the heart of the Metropolitan Police Force. Along with detectives Rebecca Pankhurst and Nicky Bailey, his team is focused on following Detective Jerry Summers, a young officer whose lifestyle exceeds his income. But the investigation risks being compromised when Nicky falls for Summers. Meanwhile, notorious drug baron Assem Rashidi goes on trial, defended by Booth Watson QC, while William's father Sir Julian and sister Grace lead the prosecution case. And William's wife Beth, now a new mother to twins, makes a surprising new friend in Christina Faulkner-the ex-wife of William's former rival, criminal financier Miles - who has not only turned over a new leaf, but also has a new-found source of income when Faulkner dies suddenly of a heart attack and she stands to be sole inheritor of his estate. As the undercover officers start to draw the threads together, William realizes that the corruption may go deeper still, and more of his colleagues than he first thought might be willing to turn a blind eye. 02/08/2021. Three cases preoccupy Det. Insp. William Warwick in bestseller Archer's unconvincing third outing for the London policeman (after 2020's Hidden in Plain Sight). In 1987, Warwick is slated to be the chief Crown witness in the prosecution of drug kingpin Assem Rashidi; takes on a confidential new assignment to investigate Det. Sgt. Jerry Summers, a colleague suspected of being crooked; and is tasked with apprehending fugitive Miles Faulkner, a criminal mastermind who figured in the previous book. Implausibly, the government is represented in the Rashidi trial by Warwick's father, Sir Julian, and his sister, Grace, setting up inevitable and unnecessary distractions when defense counsel takes advantage of those relationships to undermine the case against Rashidi. The action shifts among trial scenes, Faulkner's machinations, and Warwick's efforts to get the goods on Summers. Archer strains credulity by making it too easy for some key evidence to be tampered with in the high-profile Rashidi case, and Sir Julian proves to be a surprisingly inept questioner in court. This one's strictly for series fans. (Apr.) - Publishers Weekly. Praise for Nothing Ventured, the launch of the series "An expert juggling act that ends with not one but two intercut trials. More, please." -Kirkus Reviews. "A fully realized character, the intelligent Warwick is ambitious but naive with a lot to learn. He's surrounded by a distinctive cast of family, colleagues, and villains, while a well-placed romantic situation fills out a near-perfect hand. The final section dealing with dueling courtroom dramas brings genuine suspense to a relatively bloodless, but thoroughly gripping, tale. Archer reinforces his position as a master storyteller." -Publishers Weekly. "Archer has a real gift for family sagas, and here, with Warwick, he's launching what promises to be a series just as riveting as the Clifton Chronicles . . . Readers who know Warwick from the Chronicles will be interested to learn more about him (such as exactly how he acquired the nemesis who haunts his every move later in his career), but previous knowledge of the character is certainly not necessary to enjoy this first in what we hope will be a long series." -Booklist. "A story that builds in intensity . . . Archer's numerous fans will appreciate another dramatic, character-driven mystery set in the world of art, police work, and court trials." -Library Journal (starred review) - From the Publisher. 11/01/2020. Even as DI William Warwick goes undercover to investigate corruption in the Metropolitan Police Force, William's father and sister lead the prosecution as drug baron Ahmed Rashidi stands trial. Meanwhile, William's wife--now the mother of twins--befriends the former wife of his onetime archrival. Third in a series from the mega-best-selling author; with a 100,000-copy first printing. - Library Journal. 2021-01-13. William Warwick, newly promoted to Inspector Warwick, finds that putting away the drug lord he caught in Hidden in Plain Sight (2020) may not be as easy as he thought. The good news is that tea importer Assem Rashidi, who imports a lot more than tea, is finally in custody and that nefarious financier Miles Faulkner is on the run. The bad news is that no one can find any trace of Faulkner's ill-gotten fortune, including his fabulous collection of old-master paintings, and that Rashidi's engaged Booth Watson, Queen's Counsel, as his barrister. What chance does oleaginous Watson have against Crown Prosecutor Sir Julian Warwick, William's father, and his junior, William's sister Grace, with William himself as star witness? Quite a good chance, as it turns out in the trial that unfolds over much of this tale's first half. The complications that follow--WPC Nicola Bailey, assigned to watch over DS Jerry Summers, a suspected underworld contact, gets so close to her target that they end up in bed, and Faulkner survives reports of his death and cremation to attend his own funeral, the beneficiary of some plastic surgery so expert that the only attendee to give him a second glance is Booth Watson, QC--are both more shapeless and more flatly incredible. The swirl of criminal intrigue culminates in a second trial when William finally swoops down on Jerry Summers, but this one, even though the legal talent on both sides is exactly the same, is a lot less compelling than the first. Archer, who makes every page readable even when the events he's recounting are least credible, provides a nice coda concerning one of those old masters. A sad case of sequelitis. Next year? - Kirkus Reviews