Lewes, 5^th November and Bonfire Night is in full swing. Every year, the celebrations culminate with the burning of a giant papier-mâché effigy of an infamous celebrity – this year, not for the first time, it’s Donald Trump. But as the paper burns away, it becomes clear that there was more than mashed-up paper inside the model – there was the body of local councillor Rupert Millington.

The lead suspect wants DS Tess Fox to prove her innocent. With the help of her sister, the con-artist Sarah, who has returned from an unsuccessful quest, Tess starts following her own strands of enquiry, in part by being sidelined from the main investigation. When it becomes apparent that there would be no way for the body to be placed inside the effigy, it seems Tess has another impossible mystery to solve…

OK, this is going to be a bit tricky to review, and I feel a little bad about it. That’s because I recently gave up on reading a new release that will remain nameless because it read more like a soap opera than a mystery. And there’s more than a whiff of soap opera here too, but while the first book was like the grim family shenanigans of Eastenders, this was more like the fireworks of Dallas or Dynasty. I’d avoid less spoiler-averse reviews, as there are plenty of surprises, even earlier in the plot.

It’s the follow-up to Three Card Murder, and if you’re going to read this, then you really should read that first, as it necessarily does spoil quite a bit of the first one. There’s a lot of continuity in Tess and Sarah’s stories from that one – and it’s not a spoiler to say that things don’t end here – and it invests the reader more if they have read that one.

In fact, I think a reader picking this up cold just for the “impossible crime” tag might come away disappointed. The murder plot is about one half of the book, and both impossibilities aren’t desperately hard to work out – although to be fair, the sleuths don’t take too long either. Something about the second one just screamed at me once it was mentioned, despite the author’s efforts to make it seem unimportant.

It does seem that Tess and Sarah’s story has become more important than the murder mystery itself, so it’s a good thing that it twists and turns all over the place. I’m still a little confused over the motivation of one character – and, indeed, Sarah’s willingness to trust them given what they had done in the past – but I presume that this will be picked up on in the future. It did make that character’s arc oddly paced, as they basically vanish halfway through, but I’m sure there is more to come.

All in all, a very enjoyable read, but best read a) if you read Three Card Murder first and b) if you commit to reading the rest of the series, however long it may last. I’m committed, just in case you were wondering…

Smoke and Murders is out this Thursday from HQ in paperback and ebook. Many thanks for the e-review copy via NetGalley.