Meanwhile, Declan’s friend, prison snitch Gary “Chesshead” Cole, tries to find Alex’s murderer, with tragic results. This is a police procedural murder mystery that is greatly enhanced by the flip nature of the protagonist DS Declan Miller. To end my pleasure and leave it panting for more like a doggie before its bowl, Billingham leaves us with a humdinger of a cliffhanger about Alex’s still-unsolved murder.

For those of us who enjoy that mix of mystery and humour that the Ruth Galloway series delivered, this could well be the next go-to series. The author’s trademark blend of humour and biting reality slides perfectly into the plot and kept me turning the pages late into the night. She may seem too cool or straight laced at the start, but there is a hidden spikiness to Xiu that really works. It is surmised the intended target was Adrian Cutler, part of the local crime family, and the man next door, IT consultant Barry Shepherd was perhaps a case of mistaken identity. It makes her fascinating to read about and she is very much the straight partner to Miller's comedic turn.Working with new partner and heavy metal enthusiast DS Sara Xiu, he is tasked with investigating the double killing of gangland family scion Adrian Cutler and IT consultant Barry Shepherd at the Sands Hotel. Equally masterful are Miller’s conversations with his wife’s ghost, conjured out of loneliness and heartache. In spite of the flippant jokes there are genuine moments that will pique your curiosity about the cast surrounding Declan and you will want to know more about them.

There’s a seedy arcade, a dead body, illicit love affairs, and kitsch galore, it doesn’t get better than this. The solving of the mystery itself was unspectacular but this didn’t detract from the story too much as there was already more than enough to introduce the reader to. His standalone thriller IN THE DARK was chosen as one of the twelve best books of the year by the Times and his debut novel, SLEEPYHEAD was chosen by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 books that had shaped the decade.In the beginning, I was a little frustrated at Miller’s jokiness, that often seemed out of place (and was), but as I got to know him, I appreciated him and – dare I say it? Obviously, if you knew her, you’re well aware of the fact that she’s dead and you might well have been at the funeral, so I could probably have skipped that bit . A dogged London cop whose beat somehow invariably crosses into the dark side and confronts evil at its cleverest. And yet the grief is deep and near-unbearable; another beautiful scene, Miller reunites with their dancing gang (some former cops who comment on his present case most cleverly). In spite of their different personalities and work styles, they have been assigned to work together.

Lies After Death is a crime debut for KJ Dando, someone who has had various jobs and has served in the British Army in the Balkans and Iraq. It initially appears that the two victims—an organized crime heir and an IT consultant—have nothing in common, but after Declan taps into a network of sources spanning his and Alex’s ballroom dancing friends, an old informant, and Alex’s ghost, he starts to fear a complex conspiracy is at hand. Yet they make a brilliant partnership and I look forward to seeing this develop further over the course of the series.While he and Xiu deal with their bosses and assignments, another team is looking into Alex’s murder. Living off grid, deep in America’s Adirondack Mountains, the members of the Atlas community, all of whom have lost loved ones, are preparing for the opening of the Golden Door, which they believe will deliver them to a parallel reality in which the tragedies did not happen. The opening of the first of this new series by Mark Billingham gives a taste of the style of this book - serious and sardonic - and the setting for the double murders which take place at the Sands Hotel. I love the Tom Thorne books so much that it will take a lot for another character to live up to him. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Dark times in Blackpool in Mark Billingham’s expertly plotted new detective series.