The Burning. Jane Casey. Ebury Press (2010)

A very entertaining and engaging British police procedural. A murderer has beaten four women to death and set fire to the bodies and a fifth body has been found. Detective Constable Maeve Kerrigan is part of the team investigating the murders and she is assigned to investigate this fifth victim, an opportunity she is very happy to take on. The investigation is pursued with professional competence and confidence and as the details of the victim's life are revealed more questions arise than answers.  The story twists very satisfactorily and the reveals are very well staged, the conclusion is suitably sour.
The plot mechanics and the context for the investigation are very well set up, the fifth victim poses a serious and credible problem for the investigation, the chance to investigate the victim is an opportunity and a possible problem for an ambitious police officer. Jane Casey balances the possibilities of the story with great flair, an ambitious, clever female lead in a male dominated context creates story tensions that are exploited very smartly without ever feeling contrived to make a point. One of the pleasures of the story is that Maeve Kerrigan is unashamedly ambitious, conscious of the politics of developing a career and determined to embrace them to advance herself. Doing this as a ordinary part of working and being capable, confident and female is a striking only because it is written as being so ordinary.
Maeve Kerrigan is a great lead, she has the self confidence needed to bring the reader along with her without annoying them, also has a a interesting and credibly creaky private life that is neither a mess nor dysfunctional. The second major narrator is a nice contrast to Maeve, driven rather than confident, she is brutally self conscious ans never quite comfortable in her skin and context. The supporting cast are treated generously, they are given the time and space to make an impression and have an individual voice. Jane Casey has a gift for conjuring a character in a very short space so that they can catch the reader. There is a significant cast member who is a bit of a blank, this is not a problem it is just interesting that this character in particular should be so shadowy, in most similar stories they would be much more developed.
The structure of the story work a little against the general intent of the story, as the plot becomes clearer a question that should be a surprise become a little less so. If a cast member gets a lot of attention then it would seem logical that there is a specific reason for it, within the genre there are relatively few reasons for this attention and at some point in the story it becomes more likely what the reason is.
Smart crime fiction is a pleasure and The Burning is all that.