Songbird

In another thrilling DC Smith investigation, the Kings Lake Central detectives race to solve a twisted murder—but in a town where everyone knows everyone, finding the truth may be the most dangerous task of all.

Detective Sergeant Chris Waters gets the call one July morning—”This is it”, said DCI Reeve, “You’ll be first there, it’s all yours, you’re the crime scene manager.” Suddenly, after months of waiting and wondering, Waters finds himself in at the deep end, and alone at the scene of a puzzling murder.

As the investigation proceeds, the detectives at Kings Lake Central find themselves visiting familiar places and talking to some familiar faces, while old enmities reappear in the incident room. Before this is over, Chris Waters will need to make a career-changing decision, and another member of the CID team will find herself facing an unexpected challenge.

And Smith? Gone but not forgotten? Surely, he would say, you cannot write me off with a worn out cliché like that …

• “The best literary detective you’ve never heard of.” 
  The New York Times
• "The greatest fictional sleuth you've probably never heard of.” 
  The Financial Times
• "The books are comforting, the writing is subtle, and the plots are gripping.” 
  The Times of London
• “Grainger’s stories do what the best of literature has always done, explore the mysteries and varieties of life and what it means to be a human being… It would be hard to find a better use of reading time… I’m confident that if detective fiction readers ever decide to create their own Mt. Rushmore, the likeness of David Conrad Smith would be prominent among the honorees.”
  American Spectator