THE streets are silent - there is no-one around - but there’s the pressing matter of a murderer to be found.

Fans of top cop Detective Harry Virdee can look forward to accompanying him on his latest crime solving mission following the discovery of the body of a young woman.

Could the strategic positioning of the body and her fancy manicured nails be the vital clues that help Harry and his team in their quest to solve this latest case?

Inspired by his home city of Bradford, the author A.A. Dhand spent his youth observing the city from behind the counter of a small convenience store.

After qualifying as a pharmacist, he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to Bradford to start his own business and begin writing.

A.A Dhand’s knowledge of Bradford’s history, diversity and the city’s darkness are expertly weaved into his books and readers of his previous novels Streets of Darkness and Girl Zero will be all too familiar with the popular cop Virdee who, I suspect, is rapidly gaining a following among the author’s fans.

Expect excitement and the thrills and spills of a well-thought-through plot which is played out against the backdrop of a complex and intriguing crime.

When a member of staff is found hanged from the rafters at ‘Bradford’s most beautiful bookshop’ - Waterstones in the city’s iconic Wool Exchange, incidentally the location for A.A. Dhand’s recent official launch of his third crime thriller City of Sinners - catching the culprit becomes the focus for DCI Harry Virdee and his team.

“It was an impressive building. It had once been the Wool Exchange, back when Bradford had been one of the richest cities in Europe,” writes the author in reference to the location where wool was once traded when Bradford was the one-time wool capital of the world.

“Those time were long gone,” he adds.

Spending more than a decade with HMET, the Homicide Major Enquiry Team, you would think Harry had seen it all, that every murder scene would be unshockable, but there was something very different about this crime scene..... it also posed a logistical nightmare for finger-printing. Imagine catching a killer among the myriad of customers who would have shared the same space?

But Harry was conscious of the detail - the clues that prompted a trail, the note bearing the word ‘SINNER’ around the victim’s neck, and why are her eyes sewn up yet twitching even in death? Could these traits paint a profile of the culprit they are looking for?

Solving complex cases was something Harry had become accustomed to - defeat wasn’t in his vocabulary and he owed it to the young woman, Usma Khan, to catch her killer.

Delving deeper into Usma’s background, Harry and his team uncover some interesting findings during their in-depth investigation. Could it be that Usma led a secret life? The clue for Harry was in the expertly manicured and decorative nails - and what about that discovery under her mattress?

Without giving too much more away all will be revealed to readers of this fast-paced well-written plot.

Away from the demands of Harry’s crime solving, readers also get a glimpse into his home life which, pretty much like his career isn’t all plain sailing adding more dramatic dimension.

A.A. Dhand’s latest thriller is a brilliant read exploring the cultural complexities against the back-drop of a city he knows so well.

Bradford readers will also find some familiarity in the landmark references, Waterstones bookshop, the city’s historic Undercliffe Cemetery and Trafalgar House police station.

l A.A. Dhand’s latest Harry Virdee thriller - City of Sinners, No one is safe - is published by Bantam Press and is priced at £16.99. It is available from all good bookshops. For more information visit aadhand.com

By Sally Clifford