Portsmouth-based author Graham Hurley had finished his third standalone international thriller and submitted his manuscript when he got some bad news from his publishers. They'd been doing big business with Ian Rankin and Inspector Rebus, and rather than what he'd just handed in they'd prefer a Portsmouth equivalent.
Hurley wasn't a big fan of crime fiction (neither was Rankin when he started on Rebus) but had a background in television documentaries, knew the importance of background research and a bit of digging around persuaded him the way to go was to make the stories "as procedurally authentic" as possible. Digging around in the "extraordinary police culture" Hurley came up with DI Joe Faraday and a believable environment where suspicion is the prevailing state of mind, internal rivalries affect the outcomes of inquiries and piles of bureaucratic paperwork get in the way of people who might be inclined to be out there trying to make a difference.
He's also hit the mark pretty well with his arch-villain, a nasty piece of ex-football hooligan work named Bazza McKenzie, who's gone from thuggery on and around the terraces to drug dealing to a pretence of respectability as an emerging Portsmouth entrepreneur.
The interaaction between the Portsmouth police, McKenzie, Faraday, his deaf son, various romantic interests and an appalling array of social issues makes for a series that's great reading, though it's rarely far away from ending in tears.
Standalone titles:
Rules of Engagement
Reaper
The Devil's Breath
Thunder in the Blood
Sabbathman
The Perfect Soldier
Heaven's Light
Nocturne
Permissible Limits
Joe Faraday series:
Turnstone (2000)
The Take (2001)
Angels Passing (2002)
Deadlight (2003)
Cut to Black (2004)
Blood and Honey (2006)
One Under (2007)
The Price of Darkness (2008)
No Lovelier Death (2009)
Beyond Reach (2011)
Borrowed Light (2011)
Happy Days (2012)
D/S Jimmy Suttle series:
Western Approaches (2012)