Title:	Public Face Private Vice
	Author:	Keith Wainman
	Published:	2015, Matador
	No. of Pages:	519
	Cover Price:	$5.99, Kindle

---

In the second installment of the Charlie Smith series, Public Face, Private Vice, by British author Keith Wainman, Chief Superintendant Charlie Smith, of the Murder and Serious Crime Squad, is in charge of the investigation of the murder of Gerald Parkin, a television personality on the BBC. Parkin was not well-liked (hated my most co-workers and colleagues, in fact), and unfortunately, there are dozens of suspects. While Charlie’s team is looking into Parkin’s life along with his actions and behavior, it seems that there are dozens of motives to get rid of him.

Charlie and his interesting team of detectives at the Yard, have a very different way of investigating a murder than the norm. In order to get information, they use intimidation and force, which doesn’t ring true. And while the story is quite interesting, and most readers will want to know who actually murdered Parkin, the writing is reminiscent of a fourth-grade term paper. The dialogue is written in formal prose, never using contractions (i.e., “I will be” instead of ”I’ll be”), and certainly isn’t typical of how real people speak. Actually, the dialogue is very poorly done, and trying to read what could be a delightful book (since the characters are unique and fun and the actual story is good), is an undertaking in true patience and perseverance.

Readers who have read popular English authors, will find that this novel is not up to par, and will probably want to skip it. There are dozens of well-written British books out there that capture the charm of the UK, and this isn’t one of them.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book may be purchased at Amazon:
Public Face Private Vice