Smoke and Whispers is the fourth and final book in the series featuring Zoë Boehm, a private investigator living in Oxford.

Many years ago, Zoë shot and killed a gunman. He was about to kill her and Sarah Trafford. The two women have remained friends and contact each other occasionally.

Recently Sarah received a postcard from Zoë advising she was staying at the Bolbec Hotel, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. A few days later, Sarah reads on the internet that a body had been taken from the River Tyne. It was thought to be Zoë Boehm, formerly of Oxford.

Sarah makes arrangements with the Northumbria police to identify the body.

Smoke and Whispers brings back Gerard Inchon, a wealthy investor, who is ostensibly in Newcastle to assess business opportunities. It’s possible that Zoë’s admirer and stalker, Alan Talmadge, is also in town.

The author takes his time to get to the excitement. There’s far too much chat and not enough action.

Sarah gets into strife; panics; behaves irrationally; jumps to conclusions; loses her mobile; buys an umbrella; leaves it at the hotel; gets sopping wet; dies of pneumonia. Well, she gets sopping wet but doesn’t die.

This is not the Sarah I remember from Last Voice You Hear in which she calmly and successfully outmanoeuvred crooked police. No way would she lose control, resort to alcoholic oblivion, and rely on others to ensure she got home safely without being raped or murdered. The Sarah in Smoke and Whispers is an aberration.

Reviewed by Clive Hodges