Environmental Health Manager, Kent Fisher, leads a disparate team of hopeful winners in this tale of hot-desking, agile working, unlikely acronyms and awkward assignations. A well-observed, if episodic, narrative thrusts the protagonist into a world of back-biting and brown-nosing, where keeping the proverbial head above water means negotiating the grinding and occasionally corrupt machinations of the local council. Add to that the arrival of the Chief Executive’s niece (and a bit of difficulty with a pair of boxer shorts), and there’s plenty of scope for fun, puns and unexpected dismissals.
In charting the vicissitudes of a typical bunch of office workers, the author has created what, on the surface, could so easily have been a straightforward and not-very-interesting account of day-to-day activities. However, Robert Crouch has brought a couple of things to this particular desk that shifts his creation from the ordinary to the intelligent. With a sharp eye for detail and an keen ear for dialogue, this is a witty and entertaining read with lots of potential for further adventures.
I read this book over a couple of days and thoroughly enjoyed it. Mr Crouch has a likeable writing style that’s easy to read and hard to put down. In fact, the only thing missing is a damn good murder, but apparently, that’s where Kent Fisher really gets his hands dirty in the follow-up: ‘No Accident’, the first book in Robert Crouch’s Kent Fisher Mysteries series. Sounds good to me.
Colin Garrow 