Into the Night - Sarah Bailey

Into the Night by Sarah Bailey

First Paragraph(s):

Freezing air slices my lungs every time I breathe.  I walk to the other side of the tunnel in an attempt to shift blood into my numb feet.  I peer into its black depths.  I assume it's just a long stretch of concrete and rubbish, shelter for rats and mice, that eventually merges with other concrete passages running underneath unsuspecting roads and buildings.  Faded graffiti hugs the curved wall, the colorful scrawls harshly exposed by a mobile spotlight, and fresh police tape across the entrance is taut, barely shaking in the breeze.  The nearby asphalt path is slick with recent rain.  High above, a plump moon peers down at the blunt edges of the city.  As the white puffs exit my mouth, I think about how much grittier the crime scenes always seem here than they did in Smithson.  So much more sinister somehow.
     I was drifting into my second hour of sleep when the call came through.  A fatal attack in Carlton.....

My Thoughts:

I read Sarah Bailey's debut novel, The Dark Lake, and talked about it here.  I liked that one and was eager to see how the author would move Gemma Woodstock, an Australian police officer, along in her journey.  Gemma is a gifted detective, but she has definite issues in her personal life.  As we begin Into the Night, Gemma has moved from her small hometown of Smithson and accepted a new job in Melbourne.  She a long, long way from home and family - her son and her father primarily.  She has new colleagues to figure out and a new boss.  There is a murder of a homeless man and then almost right away, Gemma and her new partner, Nick Fleet, are pulled off that one and assigned to lead the investigation into the fatal stabbing of a famous young actor.  There is a huge amount of press presence and the stress level ratchets up and up and up.  And that's all I'll say about the plot.

I did like this second entry into an interesting Australian mystery series.  It moved slowly in the beginning and the characters seemed a bit overly introspective or, honestly, they seemed to get lost staring into space a lot.  Both Gemma and Nick (we presume, although we don't get much info about him) are damaged and self-destructive when they aren't 'on the job'.  As the story moved along toward the end, the tension increased dramatically.  Did I like Gemma as a character as well or better than last time?  Yes - but, I still wish she would get her act together and either get some help or something.  Things did improve a bit by the end.  I'm hoping that continues and I'll be watching for Sarah Bailey's next book.   

Blurb:

Troubled and brilliant, Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock finds herself lost and alone after a recent move to Melbourne, brokenhearted by the decisions she's had to make. Her new workplace is a minefield and Detective Sergeant Nick Fleet, the partner she has been assigned, is uncommunicative and often hostile. When a homeless man is murdered and Gemma is put on the case, she can't help feeling a connection with the victim and his lonely, isolated existence.

Then Sterling Wade, an up-and-coming actor filming his breakout performance in a closed-off city street, is murdered in the middle of an action-packed shot, and Gemma and Nick have to put aside their differences to unravel the mysteries surrounding the actor's life and death. Who could commit such a brazen crime? Who stands to profit from it? Far too many people, and none of them can be trusted. Gemma can't imagine a pair of victims with less in common--and yet as Gemma and Fleet soon learn, both men were keeping secrets that may have led to their deaths.