‘The Inside Man’ by Trevor Wood

Published by Quercus,
3 July 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-52943255-8 (HB)

On the surface, Jack Parker is the old-school style of detective chief inspector: a bit of a maverick, and a hands-on hard man who doesn’t suffer fools or tiptoe around other people’s feelings and prejudices and has little patience with new ways in the police force. But dig under that surface and there are secrets to be unearthed. One big secret in particular, which he’s determined to keep from his colleagues. Jack has early onset dementia. It’s in the early stages, and in a bid to ensure it stays that way for as long as possible, Jack is taking part in a drug trial – and that carries its own hazards.

The Inside Man is the second outing for Jack and his cohort of supporting players. Emma and Leon, his detective sergeants, are in constant competition, especially now there’s an inspector post in the offing. His boss Bob Curtis would rather he toed the conventional line a little more. His wife Helen and teenage son Aidan are trying to persuade him to move back into the family home, after he left it in a fit of misguided unselfishness; and his ex-priest brother is firmly on their side.

All this is only the background; there’s also a twisty and perplexing manhunt (actually woman and child hunt in this case) with enough blind alleys and near misses to satisfy the most demanding of crime fiction readers. A young woman and her four-year-old son have gone missing, and there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that the team are looking for at least one body. But nothing is ever simple in Jack Parker’s world. Alongside the case they are officially investigating, Emma is looking into the death of her predecessor, who was the victim of a hit and run in the first book of the series. Having ruled out the involvement of one of the city’s gang leaders, Jack has asked her to get close to the son of the other – and Leon thinks she is being a little too enthusiastic about it.   

As well as showing several different faces of Newcastle, Wood’s adopted home, the story travels to a rural haven in the Scottish borders and the darker corners of the Northumbrian countryside and is equally at home in them all. There’s enough detail to place the reader in each location, and Wood seems equally at home in comfortable, informal home as in a dingy, run-down back street or a mansion or party venue glittering with conspicuous wealth.

Breathing life into his characters is also something he does with a light touch. Jack’s vulnerability shows through more clearly this time around, as do Helen’s and Aidan’s. Emma and Leon are developing new layers. Among the bad guys, Harry Connors the gangster’s son stands out: is there something dark under that sophisticated, reformed criminal exterior? In contrast, his dad Stevie has few redeeming features, and nor does Evan Groom, the main suspect in the hunt for the woman and child.

DCI Jack Parker isn’t the first protagonist to harbour a dark secret, but his is the kind that can’t remain under wraps for ever. This is inevitably a self-limiting police procedural series, but there’s a long way to go before Jack succumbs to his condition. I hope so, anyway. There’s a real kicker of a cliffhanger right at the end of this one; I’m itching to know what happens!
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Reviewer: Lynne Patrick 

Trevor Wood has lived in Newcastle for 25 years and considers himself an adopted Geordie, though he still can't speak the language. He's a successful playwright who has also worked as a journalist and spin-doctor for the City Council. Prior to that he served in the Royal Navy for 16 years joining, presciently, as a Writer. Trevor holds an MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) from UEA. His first novel, The Man on the Street, which is set in his home city, was published by Quercus 19 March 2020, winning the The CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2020.    

https://trevorwoodauthor.co.uk  

Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen, and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher for a few years and is proud to have launched several careers which are now burgeoning. She lives in Oxfordshire in a house groaning with books, about half of them crime fiction.