As the first door on the Advent calendar is opened, DS Hingston attempts to save the life of a teenager in a crowded London café, but ultimately fails. Seventeen-year-old Leanna Snow chokes to death.

Days later, a girl from Leanna Snow’s school is missing and another misper is found dead: his body hanging within the iconic Egyptian Avenue at Highgate Cemetery.

Working under the bombastic DCI Smythe and alongside Remi, his ex-girlfriend whom he still holds a torch for, Hingston discovers the magic of London this December is dark, deceptive and murderous.

Hingston and the Murder Squad are put to the test with this complex investigation that proves to be as mystifying as being asked by a magician to pick a card, any card, not knowing where you will be taken.

DS Jason Hingston is waiting for his Uncle Zach in a coffee shop when a young woman starts to choke. Despite his best efforts, she dies. It seems like an accidental death—but is it?

Before long, Hingston links the choking incident to his new case, a high school student who’s gone missing. Starting out innocuously enough, the investigation soon leads to a secret society, the shadowy “House of Life,” whose members seem to be at inordinate risk of death by homicide or forced suicide.

It’s a case Hingston can sink his teeth into, but there’s a catch. He’s assigned to a team led by the bombastic and overbearing DCI Rob Smythe, who is also the man Hingston’s former lover, Remi, is now with. With Remi also on the team, the personal situation is almost as explosive as the case itself.

Smoke and Mispers is a good detective story that emphasizes investigative technique. Readers can watch as Smythe’s team susses out the nefarious acts committed under the aegis of the House of Life and then draws their net around the perpetrators. The case turns out to be unexpectedly complex with lots of players and many moving parts. But Hingston and the rest of the team progress inexorably toward solving it regardless.

DCI Smythe is—and is probably supposed to be—unlikeable. The reader can strongly sympathize with Hingston as he must watch his old flame, Remi, with this arrogant tosser. Yet there are hints that maybe Remi isn’t so enamored with Smythe after all, opening the possibility that she and Hingston might reunite. I was hoping it would happen in this book, but it didn’t.

Although this book had a whiff or two of the supernatural, it was far less prominent than in the first book Hingston’s Box. Frankly, I think the story would have been just fine without this. In the same vein, Hingston’s continued obsession with the fate of a young woman in a nineteenth century photo is more of a distraction than anything else. Nevertheless, Hingston: Smoke and Mispers is a good read that anyone who likes this genre should enjoy. I can enthusiastically recommend it.

Decima Blake has a long-standing interest in child protection having worked with teenagers, she is deeply passionate about child victims of crime. In writing Hingston’s Box, Decima drew on her love of classic English murder mysteries and ghost stories. Her interest in English Literature was ignited by two highly motivational teachers who made her A Level studies enjoyable, character forming and invaluable to her future endeavours.

Hingston’s Box raises awareness of the vulnerability of all children to exploitation. A percentage of royalties will be donated to the charity Embrace Child Victims of Crime.

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